Typical Weather Forecast

I've been keeping an eye on the extended weather forecast since we're hoping to be able to view the solar eclipse in April.  

As expected, the forecast is not looking good for any sort of astronomy around the 8th of April.  I'm not surprised in the least because this is typical for our neck of the woods at this time of year but I am a bit disappointed.

Of the 30 days in April, it appears as though only three days might be suitable for astronomy...  the 13th, 15th and 16th.  

The forecast is showing it will likely be -Clear- on these days but just because the skies are clear doesn't mean the skies will be steady for astronomy.  Of course astronomy is completely dependent upon a cloudless sky...  we can't magically see through clouds but astronomy is also severely affected by air currents and convection currents as well as clouds that are not in the visible spectrum.  Clouds in the infrared spectrum can also negatively impact the quality of the skies for astronomy.  Regardless of all this nitpicking, -Clear- days are what we need to view a solar eclipse so that is what we are hoping for on this day.

Clear/Cloudless skies are good and that is what we need to be aiming for on the 8th for this Total Solar Eclipse.  

At the moment, it appears as though we have only a 10% chance of having suitable weather for this event and that is a bit of a bummer.  Actually, the more I think about it...   if we consider the entire month of 30 days and having only three clear days, then that is a 10% chance of having a clear day in April.  However, we are seeing the forecast for April as a whole and we can see that we aren't forecast to have a clear day until the 13th.   Assuming the forecast is fairly accurate, this means our chances of having a clear day on the 8th are probably far lower than 10%.  That being said, these monthly forecasts can be spotty so we could get lucky.

I have found that the monthly forecast is fairly accurate but it can easily shift by a day or two, forward or backward.  Our chances of seeing this eclipse are quite slim though so this doesn't leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling nor am I all that confident we'll be able to see anything at all other than clouds.  Waterbury weather is unbelievably abysmal from November through April year after year, decade after decade.

The thing that is really unfortunate is that this will be my last chance to see a total solar eclipse.  I will not be around in this world to see the next total solar eclipse in the northeast.  

Regardless of the forecast, I still need to continue to prepare for this major event.  And, I suppose I can hope for a rare beautiful July day on April 8th!