[Lvas] Observing Saturday July 24

[David Blanchette]

It's 10:50pm on Friday the 23rd, and the National Weather Service 
forecasts for the area around Las Vegas, and the Clear Sky Clock, are 
looking very good for observing tomorrow (Saturday the 24th.)  As 
this is the first opportunity of any kind we've had in July, we need 
to figure out where to go.

Sawmill Trailhead:  Forecast calls for the wind to become calm, temps 
overnight down to 60;  Sagittarius objects will be due South, moving 
out of the LV light dome.  Jupiter will be in the light dome until 2am.

Redstone Picnic Area: Forecast calls for 7mph wind, temps overnight 
to 83.  LV light dome should be out of the way of most of the objects 
we're looking for.

Dante's Peak (Death Valley): Forecast calls for weinds to become 
calm, temps to 80 (which I think is lower altitude;  at 5000 feet, I 
expect the temps to get into the 60s.)  Don't let "Death Valley" 
worry you, Dante's Peak is only a couple of hours drive from LV.

Armagosa Valley "airport" (hwy 95 and hwy 373): Forecast of wind 
around 10 mph, temps to 70.  Lights from rest stop to the northeast 
are not as bad as one might think.

Afton Canyon Campground (35 miles east of Barstow): Wind 5 to 9 mph, 
temps to 80.  With the recent rains, (dirt) road may be messed up.

Parachute Target site, midway between Jean and Primm: Forecast is for 
wind to become calm, temps to 80.  If the humidity goes down, the 
glow from Jean and from Primm is not too bad.

Essentially, the weather is clearing from the south/southwest, so 
that would be the preferred direction to go to get clearer skies 
sooner.  If we had tonight and tomorrow, I'd have looked at going to 
the Jumbo Rocks Campground for the weekend.  At the moment, I'm 
looking at Sawmill Trailhead, because it is closer to me and will be 
cooler than Redstone.  I'd like to go to Dante's Peak, but it's 
rather short notice to prepare for an overnighter.  Armagosa Valley 
Airport would have a smaller light dome than Sawmill, but would be 
warmer, but would still be cooler than Redstone.  And for me, it's 
only an hour away, instead of the 90+ minutes to Redstone.

So my votes are for:

Sawmill Trailhead
Armagosa Valley Airport
Redstone

-- David