Hi Leah,
To get the weather history at that website, select the month, day and year,
then scroll way down to the table of data. Note that the year 2000 seems to be
missing, but all the others are okay from what I can tell.
We discussed the method and decided one day out of each year was enough, and
easier to average. I ran this technique by a giy I know at the Phoenix Weather
Office and he said it was good enough, but there is no real good way to predict
the weather on one particular date, at one particular time of day with any
accuracy.
Alex
On Jun 5, 2016, at 5:25 PM, Leah S <lphxaz@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have a question about the predictions as described in the Sept newsletter.
I see that you focused only on Aug 21 of each year. would it have been a
good idea to also include 2-3 days before and after that date, but at the
same time of day? that would add more data points and imo improve the
reliability of the measurement.
I wanted to try that myself but didn't see an option in the "weather history"
page of weather underground for cloudiness or for time of day. where would I
look for that?
thanks for doing this calculation for us!
On 5/30/2016 2:12 PM, (Redacted sender insanas for DMARC) wrote:
This email is for all PAS members who are interested in experiencing the
total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. I wish to remind you that Alex and I
did some research on the subject and the results are in our September 2015
newsletter PAStimes at page 6. You can download this from our PAS website.
At our September 1, 2016, PAS meeting Alex and I will present our final
data on the weather analyses, and we should discuss as a group the possible
travel, housing, camping or other issues which are vital to a successful and
pleasant experience.
PAS hasn't made any official decisions yet as to whether our club will have
an official tour or just let the members decide on their own how they wish
to enjoy the eclipse. Some members may want to carpool, some may want to go
on an official commercial tour, some may want to go on their own to a place
near friends or relatives.
Today, I am forwarding an email to all of you from one of our PAS members,
Ted Blank. He spoke to our club a few months ago on Occultations. As can be
seen from the message below, he will be going to Grand Island, Nebraska,
with an official total eclipse tour. Ted is an active member of PAS and I
invite everyone to read what he has to say. Paul Maley, who will be heading
up the expedition, also sent an email with details about the trip, see the
message below Ted's.
Feel free to contact Ted (tedblank@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:tedblank@xxxxxxxxx>)
and/or Paul (pdmaley@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:pdmaley@xxxxxxxxx>), if you have any
questions. This expedition is not a PAS event but anyone is free to
go on the trip if they so desire.
I must remind PAS members that as we get closer to the August 21, 2017,
total eclipse date, hotels and trips are starting to fill up. If you are
thinking of flying and driving on your own and camping or sleeping in your
own RV or back of your vehicle, then waiting until our Sept 1, 2016 PAS
meeting should be ok. If you want to go on an official commercial tour with
fine accommodations and meals and scientific speakers, you may want to look
into Ted and Paul's expedition.
There are also other groups with expeditions, such as the Astronomical
League, Sky and Telescope, and others.
You should check out several of these commercial tours, and see if they are
in a city you would like to visit. However, having tried twice before to see
a total solar eclipse and being clouded out both times, I can tell you the
weather history of the place is of utmost importance, along with escape
routes to go East or West within 24 hours of totality in case bad weather is
moving in. Best wishes to everyone. Sam Insana President of the Phoenix
Astronomical Society.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ted Blank <tedblank@xxxxxxxxx> <mailto:tedblank@xxxxxxxxx>
To: insanas Insana <insanas@xxxxxxx> <mailto:insanas@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Tue, May 24, 2016 5:44 am
Subject: Eclipse expedition
Hi Sam,
As I mentioned in my earlier note, my IOTA occultation friend Paul Maley has
invited me to be a group leader for the upcoming total solar eclipse in
2017. There's no financial remuneration involved for me, other than my
hotel expenses being covered. (I have to get myself to Nebraska like
everyone else.)
Paul, who recently moved to Carefree, AZ, is one of the most active
occultation observers in the world, having just returned from Bolivia to
attempt an occultation down there. He heads up Ring of Fire Expeditions,
the longest-running astronomical tour organization in the United States.
They have specialized in astro-tourism since 1970 with expeditions organized
to view solar eclipses, Halley’s Comet, the Leonid meteor shower, transit of
Venus, spacecraft reentries, grazing occultations, and occultations of stars
by minor planets.
Since I'd love to have friends from the club come along I wanted to inquire
about posting a note to the mailing list to let members know about the
expedition. For people who have not yet made plans to observe the eclipse,
I feel this would be a great opportunity to have someone with long
experience arrange hotel, pre-eclipse local tours, and day-of-eclipse backup
bus travel in case of clouds at quite reasonable cost. I'm certainly happy
to have someone else handling the logistics. I'll be among those offering
talks on eclipses and astronomy during the days leading up to the eclipse.
The link below has details of the itinerary. Of course I'll understand if
the board does not feel this to be an appropriate use of the mailing list.
One must conservative in these matters.
Thanks,
Ted
Details are as follows:
Ring of Fire Expeditions (ROFE) is now ready to launch their 47th solar
eclipse expedition, this time to the state of Nebraska to see the August 21,
2017 "Great American" total solar eclipse! This is the first total eclipse
in the USA in 38 years and that it is an incredibly rare opportunity. For
those of you who don’t chase eclipses around the world, this may be your
only chance to observe one of the most amazing spectacles nature has to
offer. The observing location will be at a site in Nebraska offering just 6
seconds less than the maximum eclipse possible along the track.
ROFE wants to give local amateurs the first opportunity to join. This will
be the least expensive eclipse trip since 1991, with prices starting at
$999 (excluding your travel to and from Nebraska). Details and registration
can be found at the following link:
<http://www.eclipsetours.com/upcoming-tours/2017-total-eclipse-sun-usa/>http://www.eclipsetours.com/upcoming-tours/2017-total-eclipse-sun-usa/
<http://www.eclipsetours.com/upcoming-tours/2017-total-eclipse-sun-usa/>
Registrations will be taken in the order received, first come, first served.
ONE REGISTRATION FORM FOR EACH PERSON. They are happy to have as many of
you as possible.
Future Travel in Houston, Texas is handling the details and is accepting
payments through the electronic bank transfer system which has proven to be
much safer and quicker. No physical checks are required and no need for you
or Future Travel to worry about mail delays. The electronic bank transfer
debits money directly from your checking account. Credit card payments are
still being charged at a rate 5% higher and so you do save money going
through the electronic bank payment.
Please remember that you have to submit both the registration form AND
deposit for each person in order to be confirmed.
There will be a limited number of single rooms available. From now until
August 21, 2016 the “early bird prices” will be in effect. After that they
will be raised based on the limited space that Future Travel has been able
to secure. Because we have other competing travel agencies monitoring our
web page, the name of the hotel will be kept confidential for now and
released later on to all who have signed up.
This year on the dates of next year's eclipse, expedition leader Paul Maley
will also be conducting a site survey in Nebraska to identify potential
eclipse viewing locations for next year.
We hope that everyone will have an outstanding eclipse experience! If you
have any questions, kindly contact Paul at the email address below.
With best regards,
Paul
Paul D. Maley
Expedition Coordinator for NASA Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society,
Houston, Texas USA (now living in Carefree, Arizona)
Paul D. Maley email:
<mailto:eclipse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>eclipse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:eclipse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
