NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The peak of the Perseid meteor shower will be tonight into Friday morning, but may linger into Friday night and Saturday.
The National Weather Service says astronomers are predicting 150-200 meteors per hour tonight, nearly twice as many as an average Perseid meteor shower. However, that number is an estimate for locations with very dark skies.
Most of Middle Tennessee suffers from moderate to severe light pollution. Those near urban and suburban areas may only see a few to maybe 10 meteors per hour.
The other complicating factor could be the weather. A low pressure system along the Gulf Coast states will continue to stream moisture northward over the next couple of days. While most of the shower and storm activity will die off shortly after sunset, abundant moisture also means abundant cloud cover.
The forecast for tonight does call for mostly cloudy skies, but there will likely be breaks in the clouds to allow for brief viewing periods late tonight.
If you’re planning to view the meteors tonight, the best time period will likely be from 1-5 a.m. NWS says the best possible location in Middle Tennessee to view the meteors is Pickett State Park (2.5 hrs from Nashville). The park is actually a certified International Dark Sky Park – the only one in the state of Tennessee and one of the few in the Southeast U.S.