McDonald Observatory stargazing forecast — Friday, August 14

Davis Mountains, TX · Bortle 2 · 30.671, -104.025 · Snapshot generated Sat, 15 Aug 2026 02:05:07 GMT

Fair (Medium confidence)

Short 3h window, otherwise mean cloud 72%. Worth a look if you're nearby.

Best observing window tonight

Sat 12:00 a.m. – Sat 2:00 a.m. (3h, 14% mean cloud)

Astronomical night: Fri 3:39 p.m. → Sat 2:22 a.m.
Moon: New moon · 2% illuminated
Mean cloud (during night): 72% (min 12%)

Site

McDonald Observatory is a working research observatory perched in the Davis Mountains, and its public Star Parties are the real thing — evenings under some of the darkest skies in the continental US, with research-grade telescopes pointed at the same objects the astronomers study by day.

Drive from Toronto: Fly into El Paso or Midland-Odessa, then drive 2.5–4 hours to Fort Davis, TX.

Best time of year: Book Star Party tickets well ahead — they regularly sell out, especially around spring break and holidays.

Open the live 48-hour forecast →

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 McDonald Observatory: /sites/mcdonald-observatory.txt
Structured site data: /sites/mcdonald-observatory.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=mcdonald-observatory updates continuously.