Limited time for Iowans to view the Perseid meteors this weekend

The best meteor shower of the year is upon us!The Perseid meteor shower peaks every summer around August 11th-13th, thanks to Earth passing through the tail of the comet Swift-Tuttle. Under ideal conditions, up to 100 meteors per hour are visible from any given location. In 2022, the Perseids overlapped with a full moon, making the night sky too bright to see most of the meteors. This year, the moon is just a thin, waning crescent, so many more meteors will be visible. The only problem? Thanks to clouds, most Iowans only have a narrow window of time to catch the Perseid meteors at their peak in 2023. Weather issues for IowaCloud cover will steadily increase across Iowa Saturday night ahead of rain coming Sunday. Sunday night's skies will be mostly cloudy, with showers & storms still possible. That leaves Saturday night from sundown through about midnight as the best chance for most of us. After 12am, clouds will likely cover too much of the sky. How to view the PerseidsIf you want to take your chances Saturday night, here are the main things to know:Find a dark location well away from city lights that has an open view of the northern sky (ideally as much of the whole sky as possible).Give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the darkness.Be patient. Even under perfect conditions, you'll likely only see 1-2 meteors per minute. Meteors will appear to radiate out of the northeastern sky from the constellation Perseus.