CalSTAR Weather

[Vishal Kasliwal]

What's the weather like at CalSTAR from people on the ground? Contemplating attending today, but I'm pretty exhausted from work and don't want to drive if clouds are going to be an issue.

Thanks,

Vishal

[marek.c...@gmail.com]

The sky's completely clear here on the field at noon on Friday. There's a light to moderate breeze at the moment, looks like it's out of the southeast. It's warm in the sun, but it's cool here under a tree. It's just about T-shirt weather in the sun, but you'd probably put on a jacket if you're chilling out in the shade like I'm doing.

Last night was my first night, and it worked out very nicely. It stayed clear all night. I was working at low magnification (because I was using an NV device on a dob), so I can't say how good the seeing was. Not sure how it was for people who were using high magnification, but the stars didn't seem to be twinkling terribly much, at least not to the naked eye.

The night started windy, but then it calmed down. It got moderately dewy (and then frosty) late in the night; I can't quite recall exactly when. It was plenty cold when I crawled under three sleeping bags in the back of my vehicle at 3am. I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the upper half of the 30s Farenheit. If it was, say, 35F, I wouldn't be surprised.

But it was quite worth it for me, since it had been such a nice clear night. No clouds Thursday night. It was a nice voyage from the last hurrah of the winter Milky Way, through the realm of the galaxies, to the first appearance of the summer Milky Way.

Looking at the longwave IR satellite loop from the NWS, it looks like high cirrus *might* come over central CA tonight, but it might not, too. My read on the IR sat loop at the moment is that it could go either way. I'm going to stay tonight and see how it turns out. It would be nice to get in another good night if it happens.

Here's the IR loop I'm looking at:

https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/sector_band.php?sat=G18&sector=wus&band=11&length=24

Grateful for having had a good night, and hopeful for another one!

[James Webster]

The weather forcast is favorable. It should be a cloudless night. The weather has been good all week.

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[Ted Hauter]

Amazing here on the Central Coast 👍

It was low 40s probably as it was at LSA Tuesday into Wednesday. That's how cold 42 can be if have continuous exposure.

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[Vishal Kasliwal]

Thank you all for the updates, but I'm so sleepy and low on energy that I don't think I can do the drive, observe and then drive back. I'll have to sit this one out. 

Clear skies!!

Best, 

Vishal 

[David Kirjassoff]

Weather was fair last night, some high clouds and dew starting around 11pm.  Wednesday was relatively poor, Thursday was stellar :).  We are here for the duration plus one day, leaving on Monday.

On Friday, April 17, 2026 at 11:31:34 AM UTC-7 Vishal Kasliwal wrote:

[John Pierce]

On Sat, Apr 18, 2026 at 10:38 AM David Kirjassoff <dkirj...@gmail.com> wrote:

Weather was fair last night, some high clouds and dew starting around 11pm.  Wednesday was relatively poor, Thursday was stellar :).  We are here for the duration plus one day, leaving on Monday.

my forecast (ok, google's) says we get about 0.3" of rain here in Santa Cruz on Monday.