As I wrote earlier, we donated a star viewing party for our daughter’s school. Tonight was the targeted night.

We had planned to have the event several weeks ago but we were worried about rain and clouds (of course). Based on the forecasts from the NWS and Weather.com, we cancelled the event on the Thursday before the Saturday event. Up to the afternoon forecast on Saturday “mostly cloudy” skies were forecast. I did note that the Mar Vista Clear Sky Clock predicted clear skies. And the skies were clear. I got some great images of Saturn that night.

This time, I refused to bow to the forecast. The day was mostly cloudy. I spoke with our guests in the afternoon and we decided to wait to make a decision. NWS said partly cloudy, 20% chance of rain. Clear Sky Clock said brief clearing around and just after twilight, then cloudy. It cleared at 5:30 pm and we started the preparations. There was a low clouds scare at 6:30, but then the guests called at 7:00, it looked good.

Then the clouds arrived, followed by our guests. We got a couple of nice views of Saturn and Mars, but no real chance to Explore the Night Sky as we had promised. We have rescheduled.

The guests left and we put everything away. Just in time. RAIN. Yes, rain. Not 10 minutes after the observatory was closed, the 8″ scope put away, the laptop moved inside, it rained. If we had spoken with our guests for another 10 minutes there would have been untold damage. But the good Lord was looking our for us and nothing was damaged.

But just as I am committed to observe and image in the face of light pollution, I will not postpone a star party without unconditional prediction of clouds and rain.