Utah might miss the "biggest stargazing night of 2026"

• It's also, coincidentally, the same day as a total solar eclipse.

Meanwhile, Utah is an astronomer's paradise, with desert weather, vast rural or undeveloped expanses — and the world's highest concentration of certified "International Dark Sky Places."

Yes, but: Utah's normally clear skies aren't looking great during Thursday's earliest hours, when the meteor shower is at its best.

• From Logan to St. George and Delta to Vernal, forecasts for 12-4am Thursday call for about 50-75% cloud cover, per Weather Underground.

Zoom in: The chance of rain Wednesday night and Thursday morning in Salt Lake was 50% as of Monday.

Erin's thought bubble: For most of summer, the only clouds in the sky are airplane farts and wildfire smoke. We obviously need rain.

• But after the total lunar eclipses in May and November of 2022 were overcast, and Ol' Man Winter rolled over the big Blood Moon eclipse in 2025, it'd be nice if the weather could be a bit more cooperative.

The other side: Forecasts aren't written in stone.

What's next: A partial lunar eclipse will darken almost all of the full Sturgeon Moon on Aug. 27, so grab your umbrellas!

• The reddish hue will max out at 10:12pm.