Pinnacles 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 12:56 p.m. → Fri 11:22 p.m.

Moon

New moon · 2% illuminated

Mean cloud (during night)

0%   (min 0%)

Site

Pinnacles is a small, less-visited national park east of the Salinas Valley, built around the eroded remains of an ancient volcano. Its rock spires make an unusual foreground for a night sky that's dark enough for the National Park Service to run its own night-sky viewing guidance.

Drive from Toronto: Fly into San Jose or San Francisco, then drive 1.5–2.5 hours south to the park's east or west entrance.

Best time of year: New-moon nights are best; the park recommends areas free of tree cover on the east side.

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 Pinnacles: /sites/pinnacles-np.txt
• Structured site data: /sites/pinnacles-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=pinnacles-np updates continuously.