Optimal Trading Windows

For each hour of the day, what’s the accuracy of “reading the thermometer” vs CLI settlement?  Data: Sep 2025 – Feb 2026 (171 days, 7 stations). Shows cumulative running min/max METAR compared to final CLI value.

Lows: Accuracy by Hour ±2°F vs CLI

Each cell = % of nights where the running minimum METAR temp was within ±2°F of the final CLI low, cumulative up to that hour. The dashed line on bar charts marks the 80% target.

Station9PM10PM11PM12AM1AM2AM3AM4AM5AM6AM7AM8AM
KMDW
Chicago
17%21%23%30%35%45%58%73%79%82%83%84%
KNYC
NYC
20%23%30%36%47%56%67%73%80%82%82%82%
KMIA
Miami
18%24%30%37%49%60%71%82%87%89%89%90%
KLAX
Los Angeles
23%25%31%37%47%61%74%84%89%91%91%91%
KAUS
Austin
7%9%12%14%18%23%40%51%61%70%71%71%
KDEN
Denver
11%13%17%23%27%33%37%46%51%58%60%60%
KPHL
Philadelphia
15%18%25%29%40%54%64%76%80%81%81%82%

Highs: Accuracy by Hour ±2°F vs CLI

Each cell = % of days where the running maximum METAR temp was within ±2°F of the final CLI high, cumulative up to that hour.

Station10AM11AM12PM1PM2PM3PM4PM5PM6PM
KMDW
Chicago
22%38%57%80%84%85%87%88%89%
KNYC
NYC
13%30%54%75%85%88%88%88%89%
KMIA
Miami
29%56%79%92%97%98%99%99%99%
KLAX
Los Angeles
42%81%94%95%97%97%97%97%97%
KAUS
Austin
2%6%18%43%84%97%97%98%98%
KDEN
Denver
11%27%53%80%91%95%95%95%95%
KPHL
Philadelphia
12%28%53%76%89%91%91%91%91%

Lows: Accuracy Progression by Station

How accuracy improves as the night progresses. Shows ±2°F accuracy at each hour. Dashed line = 80% target.

KMDW — Chicago

9PM
17%
7.3°F avg
10PM
21%
6.5°F avg
11PM
23%
5.8°F avg
12AM
30%
5.2°F avg
1AM
35%
4.4°F avg
2AM
45%
3.6°F avg
3AM
58%
3.0°F avg
4AM
73%
2.5°F avg
5AM
79%
2.1°F avg
6AM
82%
1.8°F avg
7AM
83%
1.6°F avg
8AM
84%
1.5°F avg
| = 80% target

KNYC — NYC

9PM
20%
6.0°F avg
10PM
23%
5.5°F avg
11PM
30%
4.9°F avg
12AM
36%
4.4°F avg
1AM
47%
3.9°F avg
2AM
56%
3.4°F avg
3AM
67%
3.0°F avg
4AM
73%
2.5°F avg
5AM
80%
2.2°F avg
6AM
82%
1.8°F avg
7AM
82%
1.7°F avg
8AM
82%
1.6°F avg
| = 80% target

KMIA — Miami

9PM
18%
5.9°F avg
10PM
24%
5.3°F avg
11PM
30%
4.5°F avg
12AM
37%
3.8°F avg
1AM
49%
3.2°F avg
2AM
60%
2.7°F avg
3AM
71%
2.2°F avg
4AM
82%
1.8°F avg
5AM
87%
1.6°F avg
6AM
89%
1.4°F avg
7AM
89%
1.4°F avg
8AM
90%
1.3°F avg
| = 80% target

KLAX — Los Angeles

9PM
23%
5.6°F avg
10PM
25%
5.1°F avg
11PM
31%
4.6°F avg
12AM
37%
3.8°F avg
1AM
47%
2.9°F avg
2AM
61%
2.3°F avg
3AM
74%
1.8°F avg
4AM
84%
1.3°F avg
5AM
89%
1.1°F avg
6AM
91%
0.9°F avg
7AM
91%
0.9°F avg
8AM
91%
0.9°F avg
| = 80% target

KAUS — Austin

9PM
7%
11.9°F avg
10PM
9%
10.4°F avg
11PM
12%
8.9°F avg
12AM
14%
7.4°F avg
1AM
18%
6.3°F avg
2AM
23%
5.1°F avg
3AM
40%
4.3°F avg
4AM
51%
3.7°F avg
5AM
61%
3.1°F avg
6AM
70%
2.7°F avg
7AM
71%
2.6°F avg
8AM
71%
2.5°F avg
| = 80% target

KDEN — Denver

9PM
11%
9.4°F avg
10PM
13%
8.3°F avg
11PM
17%
7.3°F avg
12AM
23%
6.5°F avg
1AM
27%
5.8°F avg
2AM
33%
5.1°F avg
3AM
37%
4.4°F avg
4AM
46%
3.9°F avg
5AM
51%
3.4°F avg
6AM
58%
3.0°F avg
7AM
60%
2.9°F avg
8AM
60%
2.9°F avg
| = 80% target

KPHL — Philadelphia

9PM
15%
6.9°F avg
10PM
18%
6.1°F avg
11PM
25%
5.3°F avg
12AM
29%
4.6°F avg
1AM
40%
3.9°F avg
2AM
54%
3.4°F avg
3AM
64%
3.0°F avg
4AM
76%
2.4°F avg
5AM
80%
2.2°F avg
6AM
81%
1.9°F avg
7AM
81%
1.8°F avg
8AM
82%
1.8°F avg
| = 80% target

Highs: Accuracy Progression by Station

How accuracy improves as the afternoon progresses. Shows ±2°F accuracy at each hour. Dashed line = 80% target.

KMDW — Chicago

10AM
22%
5.4°F avg
11AM
38%
3.8°F avg
12PM
57%
2.7°F avg
1PM
80%
1.9°F avg
2PM
84%
1.5°F avg
3PM
85%
1.4°F avg
4PM
87%
1.3°F avg
5PM
88%
1.3°F avg
6PM
89%
1.2°F avg
| = 80% target

KNYC — NYC

10AM
13%
5.5°F avg
11AM
30%
4.0°F avg
12PM
54%
2.7°F avg
1PM
75%
2.0°F avg
2PM
85%
1.4°F avg
3PM
88%
1.2°F avg
4PM
88%
1.2°F avg
5PM
88%
1.1°F avg
6PM
89%
1.1°F avg
| = 80% target

KMIA — Miami

10AM
29%
4.0°F avg
11AM
56%
2.6°F avg
12PM
79%
1.7°F avg
1PM
92%
1.1°F avg
2PM
97%
0.9°F avg
3PM
98%
0.8°F avg
4PM
99%
0.7°F avg
5PM
99%
0.7°F avg
6PM
99%
0.7°F avg
| = 80% target

KLAX — Los Angeles

10AM
42%
3.1°F avg
11AM
81%
1.7°F avg
12PM
94%
1.1°F avg
1PM
95%
0.9°F avg
2PM
97%
0.8°F avg
3PM
97%
0.8°F avg
4PM
97%
0.8°F avg
5PM
97%
0.8°F avg
6PM
97%
0.7°F avg
| = 80% target

KAUS — Austin

10AM
2%
9.8°F avg
11AM
6%
6.9°F avg
12PM
18%
4.6°F avg
1PM
43%
3.0°F avg
2PM
84%
1.7°F avg
3PM
97%
1.0°F avg
4PM
97%
1.0°F avg
5PM
98%
0.9°F avg
6PM
98%
0.9°F avg
| = 80% target

KDEN — Denver

10AM
11%
7.1°F avg
11AM
27%
4.5°F avg
12PM
53%
3.0°F avg
1PM
80%
1.7°F avg
2PM
91%
1.2°F avg
3PM
95%
1.0°F avg
4PM
95%
1.0°F avg
5PM
95%
1.0°F avg
6PM
95%
1.0°F avg
| = 80% target

KPHL — Philadelphia

10AM
12%
5.6°F avg
11AM
28%
4.0°F avg
12PM
53%
2.8°F avg
1PM
76%
1.8°F avg
2PM
89%
1.3°F avg
3PM
91%
1.0°F avg
4PM
91%
1.0°F avg
5PM
91%
1.0°F avg
6PM
91%
1.0°F avg
| = 80% target

Recommended Trading Windows

Based on when each station first crosses the 80% accuracy threshold at ±2°F. TRADE = historically ≥80% accurate. CAUTION = 60-79%. SKIP = <60%.

Lows — First Hour ≥80% (Local Time)

StationBuy AfterAccuracyVerdict
KMDW
Chicago
6 AM82%TRADE
KNYC
NYC
5 AM80%TRADE
KMIA
Miami
4 AM82%TRADE
KLAX
Los Angeles
4 AM84%TRADE
KAUS
Austin
7 AM71%CAUTION
KDEN
Denver
7 AM60%CAUTION
KPHL
Philadelphia
5 AM80%TRADE

Highs — First Hour ≥80% (Local Time)

StationBuy AfterAccuracyVerdict
KMDW
Chicago
2 PM84%TRADE
KNYC
NYC
2 PM85%TRADE
KMIA
Miami
1 PM92%TRADE
KLAX
Los Angeles
11 AM81%TRADE
KAUS
Austin
2 PM84%TRADE
KDEN
Denver
2 PM91%TRADE
KPHL
Philadelphia
2 PM89%TRADE
Highs are the moneymaker. Every station crosses 80% by 2 PM local. Miami and LAX hit 93-97% by noon. The afternoon window is reliable across the board.
Lows need dawn, not midnight. Christian’s 12-2 AM window only hits 30-60% accuracy. Most stations need until 4-6 AM to cross 80%. Denver and Austin never reach 80% — skip those for lows or accept higher risk.
Implication for the bot: Shift the lows buying window to 4-6 AM local time. Start monitoring at 9 PM to track trends, but don’t buy until dawn when the overnight low has actually occurred.