11.7 usable nights
9–14 in the middle half of years · 4.0 typically near a dark moon.
342 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
20-year trip-planning baseline
Best time to stargaze at Ridgecrest
August: 24.9 usable nights on average. Use this seasonal climate baseline to choose a month, then use the live forecast to choose a night.
Site darkness · modelled, not measured
Brightened skyBortle classes describe observed sky conditions; this brightness model does not establish a measured Bortle class.20.4–20.9 mag/arcsec²
The short answer
August has been strongest.
It averages 24.9 usable nights, versus 11.7 in January. A typical August lands between 23 and 27 usable nights.
Record2005–2024 · 20 complete years
Usable nightAt least 3 astronomical-dark hours and NASA POWER nighttime cloud ≤30%
Dark-moon nightUsable night with ≤25% illumination at local solar midnight
ResolutionCERES SYN1deg 1° cloud grid; regional climate, not a campsite guarantee
Seasonal fingerprint
Usable nights by month
Month by month
12.8 usable nights
10–16 in the middle half of years · 4.4 typically near a dark moon.
288 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
13.8 usable nights
12–16 in the middle half of years · 4.0 typically near a dark moon.
284 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
17.4 usable nights
14–20 in the middle half of years · 5.7 typically near a dark moon.
240 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
21.4 usable nights
19–23 in the middle half of years · 7.7 typically near a dark moon.
196 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
23.8 usable nights
21–27 in the middle half of years · 8.0 typically near a dark moon.
180 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
21.9 usable nights
19–25 in the middle half of years · 7.1 typically near a dark moon.
186 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
24.9 usable nights
23–27 in the middle half of years · 8.2 typically near a dark moon.
238 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
24.7 usable nights
22–27 in the middle half of years · 8.7 typically near a dark moon.
254 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
22.4 usable nights
20–25 in the middle half of years · 7.8 typically near a dark moon.
310 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
16.3 usable nights
13–20 in the middle half of years · 4.8 typically near a dark moon.
327 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
12.4 usable nights
9–16 in the middle half of years · 4.2 typically near a dark moon.
360 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
Use the baseline honestly
Climate chooses the month. Forecasts choose the night.
The cloud product is a roughly 1° regional grid. It can reveal seasonality, but it cannot know a mountain ridge, valley fog pocket, locked gate, smoke event or the exact sky you will get.
Source: NASA POWER daily data, parameter CLOUD_AMT_NIGHT from the CERES SYN1deg cloud product. GoodSeeing calculates astronomical darkness and lunar illumination independently for each place.