Joshua Tree stargazing forecast — Friday, August 14

Best observing window tonight

Fri 1:00 p.m. – Fri 11:00 p.m. (11h, 0% mean cloud)

Astronomical night

Fri 12:31 p.m. → Fri 11:05 p.m.

Moon

New moon · 2% illuminated

Mean cloud (during night)

0%   (min 0%)

Site

Joshua Tree is where a lot of Southern California visitors see the Milky Way for the first time — the park has studied its own light pollution closely, and while Keys View catches light domes from nearby cities, the remote eastern side around Pinto Wells stays genuinely dark.

Drive from Toronto: Fly into Palm Springs or Los Angeles, then drive 45 minutes to 2.5 hours depending on which entrance you use.

Best time of year: Fall through spring around new moon; summer daytime heat is extreme.

Citations & data sources

• Open-Meteo Forecast API (cloud, humidity, wind, visibility)
• Open-Meteo astronomical data (sunrise, sunset, moon)
• Bortle scale reference for site darkness
• Editorial guide for Joshua Tree: /sites/joshua-tree-np.txt
• Structured site data: /sites/joshua-tree-np.json
• Live MCP server (AI agents): https://koohxdehsweadgdegrly.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp

This is a build-time snapshot — the live forecast at https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=joshua-tree-np updates continuously.