Aoraki Mackenzie (Lake Tekapo) forecast › Weekend planner

Eight-week planning horizon

Choose your observing weekend

Aoraki Mackenzie (Lake Tekapo) · ranked by total moonless dark hours across Friday and Saturday. Seasonal history is context, not the chance of clear weather on those dates.

Natural-dark sky

Site darkness stays separate from the weather and the scheduling order.

21.8–21.9 mag/arcsec²

Next seven nights in detail · Moonless calendar · Milky Way timing

Choose a planet and find its observing times →

Moonless time rank 1

6 Nov – 7 Nov

11.3h moonless / 11.3h astronomical darkness across both nights

November seasonal context
2.9 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

5.7h moonless · Moon 8% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 22:40–04:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

5.7h moonless · Moon 3% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 22:40–04:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 2

4 Dec – 5 Dec

7.7h moonless / 8.0h astronomical darkness across both nights

December seasonal context
2.8 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

3.7h moonless · Moon 19% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 23:40–03:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

4.0h moonless · Moon 11% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 23:40–03:40

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 3

30 Oct – 31 Oct

7.0h moonless / 12.7h astronomical darkness across both nights

October seasonal context
3.2 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

3.0h moonless · Moon 78% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 22:20–01:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

4.0h moonless · Moon 67% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 22:20–02:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 4

13 Nov – 14 Nov

6.0h moonless / 10.7h astronomical darkness across both nights

November seasonal context
2.9 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

3.3h moonless · Moon 16% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 01:00–04:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

2.7h moonless · Moon 23% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 01:40–04:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 5

16 Oct – 17 Oct

5.0h moonless / 14.3h astronomical darkness across both nights

October seasonal context
3.2 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

3.0h moonless · Moon 30% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 02:20–05:20

Forecast cloud range: 100–100% at 1 available dark-time samples. Not full-night coverage or a probability.

Saturday

2.0h moonless · Moon 39% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 03:00–05:00

Forecast cloud range: 73–73% at 1 available dark-time samples. Not full-night coverage or a probability.

Moonless time rank 6

27 Nov – 28 Nov

2.7h moonless / 9.0h astronomical darkness across both nights

November seasonal context
2.9 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

1.0h moonless · Moon 89% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 23:20–00:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

1.7h moonless · Moon 81% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 23:20–01:00

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 7

20 Nov – 21 Nov

0.3h moonless / 10.0h astronomical darkness across both nights

November seasonal context
2.9 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

0.3h moonless · Moon 79% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 03:40–04:00

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

0.0h moonless · Moon 87% lit
No moonless dark window

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

No moonless darkness

23 Oct – 24 Oct

0.0h moonless / 13.7h astronomical darkness across both nights

October seasonal context
3.2 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

0.0h moonless · Moon 91% lit
No moonless dark window

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

0.0h moonless · Moon 96% lit
No moonless dark window

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

How to use this planner

Choose a weekend with enough moonless time, then check the weather and target outlook before travelling. Times use Pacific/Auckland and approximately 20-minute geometry samples. Friday and Saturday are ranked together; hours need not form one continuous window.

The regional NASA climate baseline counts nights with at least three hours of astronomical darkness and mean nighttime cloud at or below 30%. It does not measure telescope seeing or guarantee clear skies. No weather probabilities are inferred from monthly averages. Longer-lead forecasts have coarser sampling.

Full seasonal history and definitions →