A meteor streaks across the sky in Vinton, California, during the Perseid meteor shower on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009.

(AP Photo/Kevin Clifford)

The Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak Friday night into Saturday's pre-dawn hours, when observers can expect to see up to 20 meteors per hour, or roughly one every three minutes.This will be the first meteor shower since January.

Although unexpected this year, the Lyrids can sometimes produce as many as 100 meteors in an hour at its peak.

These meteors typically lack persistent trains but , according to the American Meteor Society. A fireball is a meteor that becomes immensely bright as it burns up and enters the Earth's atmosphere, sometimes lighting up the whole sky for a few seconds.

Midnight to dawn is the best timeframe to view theshower, and meteors will appear in all areas of the sky. There's no need to focus on a single point, as is the case with other meteor showers at differenttimes of the year.

Friday night's viewing conditions will be best in the southern tier of the United States, from Southern California to Florida, where skies are expected to be mainly clear.

The worst conditions will be in a swath from the northern Rockies to the central Plains, mid-Mississippi Valley and mid-Atlantic, as stubborn cloud cover inhibits viewing.

Lyrid Meteor Shower

Sky viewing conditions Friday night.

If conditions aren't ideal Friday night, perhaps Saturday night's weather will give you a second chance.

The Lyridswill still be visible Saturday night into early Sunday morning, though the peak time of the meteor shower is Friday night.

The best conditions are expected in the Rocky Mountains, intermountain West, southern Plains and Desert Southwest, where skies are forecast to be mainly clear.

The Northwest and much of the East will have less-than-ideal viewing conditionswith plenty of clouds covering the sky, rather than shooting stars.

Lyrid Meteor Shower

Sky viewing conditions Saturday night.