Astronomy class semi-success

The weather forecast was all over the place for tonight's Hiram College astronomy class visit to the Observatory. Would it be cloudy, rainy, partly-cloudy, clear, clear but poor seeing? We saw all of those forecasts. It looked like it might clear up for the 9:30 start so we called it a "go" and opened up. About 18 students with their professor attended. Started off with the usual historical and interpretive talk about the Observatory and telescope while we waited for the sky to darken. We had partly-cloudy skies and sultry 80-degree air for the start, first viewing the red super-giant star Antares. Sometimes it winked out of sight as a cloud passed, then it would reappear. When everyone had seen the colorful blip, I moved the telescope to the neighboring star cluster M4. Seeing was not good but I could make out a faint cloud of stars and a few students also said they saw it. Many could not observe it. So the Clear Sky Chart prediction of poor seeing was pretty much confirmed. Clouds closed in at about 10:30 so all went home. The professor asked if we could schedule a lunar observation night during the last week of June or first part of July just before the end of the course. Hopefully we'll have a better night because the old telescope really shows its stuff with the Moon when viewed through its fist-size, low-power eyepiece. Driving home I encountered partly-cloudy skies, moderately-heavy rain, and clear skies! I'm happy not to be a meteorologist trying to forecast this!