Petrified Forest stargazing forecast — Friday, August 14

Northern AZ · Bortle 2 · 34.910, -109.806 · Snapshot generated Sat, 15 Aug 2026 02:05:07 GMT

Fair (Medium confidence)

Short 2h window, otherwise mean cloud 54%. Worth a look if you're nearby.

Best observing window tonight

Fri 4:00 p.m. – Fri 5:00 p.m. (2h, 19% mean cloud)

Astronomical night: Fri 12:08 p.m. → Fri 10:39 p.m.
Moon: New moon · 2% illuminated
Mean cloud (during night): 54% (min 0%)

Site

Petrified Forest is an International Dark Sky Park, but its gates normally close at dusk — so the truly dark, star-filled sky here is something only backpackers and holders of a special Dark Sky Viewing Permit get to see.

Drive from Toronto: Fly into Phoenix, then drive about 3.5 hours east, or fly into Albuquerque and drive about 3 hours west.

Best time of year: New moon nights; apply for the free Dark Sky Viewing Permit or the wilderness backpacking permit in advance.

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 Petrified Forest: /sites/petrified-forest-np.txt
Structured site data: /sites/petrified-forest-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=petrified-forest-np updates continuously.