A local skywatcher says if the sky is clear Friday morning, we could be in for a very impressive meteor shower.

The Perseid meteor shower happens every year at this time. Ken McAllister of Steinbach says this year it will peak Thursday after midnight. But instead of a meteor shower, he's calling this a meteor outburst.

In a normal year, approximately 60 shooting stars are visible every hour on peak night. McAllister says that number could sore to 150 per hour this week. And the reason, is because of the gravitational pull of Jupiter.

"The debris that the earth passes through that creates this meteor shower stream, Jupiter has essentially pushed it closer to earth," explains McAllister.

He notes instead of earth passing through the edge of this comet debris, it will go through the center. The same thing happened back in 2009.

McAllister says for the best view, he advises heading southeast of Steinbach, away from Winnipeg and away from bright lights. Then, give your eyes time to adjust and take in as much of the sky as possible, instead of looking at only one spot.

Of course, cloud cover could be a factor Thursday night, as could the bright moon. McAllister says if you are looking at the moon that night, it will make a neat triangle with Saturn and Mars. Mars will resemble a bright, red star below the moon, and Saturn is left of the moon.