Sunset Crater stargazing forecast — Friday, August 14

Best observing window tonight

Fri 3:00 p.m. – Fri 10:00 p.m. (8h, 1% mean cloud)

Astronomical night

Fri 12:16 p.m. → Fri 10:45 p.m.

Moon

New moon · 2% illuminated

Mean cloud (during night)

19%   (min 0%)

Site

Sunset Crater is one of three Flagstaff-area national monuments (with Wupatki and Walnut Canyon) that share an International Dark Sky Park designation. The Lava Flow Trail Amphitheater is a designated spot for taking in both the volcano and the stars above it.

Drive from Toronto: Fly into Phoenix, then drive about 3 hours north to Flagstaff, then 12 miles further via US-89 and the Sunset Crater–Wupatki Loop Road.

Best time of year: New moon nights; the park occasionally runs seasonal summer night-sky events.

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 Sunset Crater: /sites/sunset-crater-nm.txt
• Structured site data: /sites/sunset-crater-nm.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=sunset-crater-nm updates continuously.