United States · International Dark Sky Community
Stargazing at Lakewood Village, Texas
How dark this certified sky really is, how far it is from the nearest cities, a live seven-night forecast for the site itself, and the moon-free nights worth planning around. Official DarkSky International page ↗
How dark the sky really is at Lakewood Village, Texas
Modelled zenith brightness at the site's coordinates is 18.44 mag/arcsec², which maps to roughly Bortle 7 (what each level means). This is an approximation from the 2024 light-pollution atlas, not a field measurement — and it describes the single point DarkSky lists, not the darkest corner of the community.
At an estimated Bortle 7 this is an urban sky. International Dark Sky Community status here is about protecting what night there is inside the city — expect the Moon, planets and the brightest stars, not the Milky Way. If you want a dark sky, use the nearest-cities list below in reverse: this place is where city dwellers start, not where they end up.
Getting to Lakewood Village, Texas
The nearest cities we publish guides for, with the direction to head and a rough drive estimate.
- From Dallas
head north · 43.5 km straight-line · ≈56.6 km by road · ≈1 h · reachable tonight
- From Austin
head north · 327.7 km straight-line · ≈426 km by road · ≈4.9 h · weekend trip
- From Houston
head north · 405.7 km straight-line · ≈527.4 km by road · ≈6 h · weekend trip
Estimated from straight-line distance x a 1.3 road-detour factor and staged average speeds (40 km/h leaving town, 70 km/h regional, 95 km/h highway). It is a rough guide, not a routed drive time.
The next seven nights at Lakewood Village, Texas
Loading the live forecast…
Plan the next 90 days at Lakewood Village, Texas
Moon-free dark windows are astronomy — computable years ahead. Cloud is not: beyond the 16-night forecast nobody knows the weather, and we won't pretend to. What five years of reanalysis can say is how often each month's nights actually stayed clear here.
- Nov 2–1514 moon-free nights65% of November nights here stayed clear (2021–2025)
- Dec 2–1413 moon-free nights60% of December nights here stayed clear (2021–2025)
- Dec 31 – Jan 1314 moon-free nights60% of December nights here stayed clear (2021–2025)
Clear nights by month, 2021–2025
- Jan65%
- Feb59%
- Mar65%
- Apr56%
- May54%
- Jun77%
- Jul84%
- Aug84%
- Sep88%
- Oct80%
- Nov65%
- Dec60%
Clearest months historically: September (88%), July (84%), August (84%); across the year 70% of nights with astronomical darkness stayed clear.
"Clear" = weighted cloud cover (low 0.5 / mid 0.3 / high 0.2) ≤ 20% across the night's astronomical darkness. ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo Archive, 2021–2025 (CC BY 4.0) — historical frequency, not a forecast. Once a window comes within 16 nights, the live forecast above takes over.
Put Lakewood Village, Texas's dark-sky nights on your calendar
Every month has a stretch of nights when the Moon leaves the dark hours at Lakewood Village, Texas essentially moon-free. Subscribe once and each window lands in your own calendar, about a year ahead — no account, no email.
moon & darkness geometry only — cloud can't be known this far out; check the live forecast above when a window gets close
Questions people ask about Lakewood Village, Texas
- How dark is the sky at Lakewood Village, Texas?
- Modelled zenith brightness from the 2024 World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness puts Lakewood Village, Texas at about 18.44 mag/arcsec², roughly Bortle class 7. That is an approximation derived from satellite data, not a field measurement; it is certified by DarkSky International as an International Dark Sky Community.
- How far is Lakewood Village, Texas from Dallas?
- About 43.5 km in a straight line, heading north from Dallas. Using a 1.3 road-detour factor and staged average speeds that is roughly 56.6 km and 1 h of driving — an estimate, not a routed drive time.
- When is the next moon-free dark window at Lakewood Village, Texas?
- The next stretch of essentially moon-free dark hours runs Nov 2–15 (14 nights), computed from Moon phase and altitude with Skyfield and JPL DE440s. Cloud cannot be known that far ahead; the live seven-night forecast on this page shows real cloud cover once a window is close.
- What is the clearest month at Lakewood Village, Texas?
- Over 2021–2025, September (88%), July (84%), August (84%) had the highest share of nights with astronomical darkness that stayed clear (weighted cloud cover ≤ 20%); across the year it was 70%. ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo — historical frequency, not a forecast.
Place name and coordinates: DarkSky International (reviewed 2026-07-15, data 2026-10-13). Light pollution: David Lorenz, World Atlas 2024 (EOG VIIRS, CC BY 4.0), approximate. Cloud: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Moon and darkness geometry: Skyfield + JPL DE440s, computed locally. Drive times are estimates, not routes.