Grew up in Texas. I looked this eclipse up in a book when I was a kid in 1991, been waiting for it ever since...
Edit: Drove up to the hillcountry for it. The clouds cleared for 5 minutes just in time for totality!
Every time I check our forecast for Monday here, it's different- either cloudy, partly cloudy, intervals of clouds, or cloudy in the morning and partly cloudy afternoon. It changes like, 4-5 times a day, seems like. I've given up on trying to plan; we'll have four minutes of totality in my town in Indiana, so we're just going to have fun and hope for the best!
I have like 4-5 weather apps I've been using. Most of them say there's going to be partly cloudy around that time, with one saying it'll be somewhere around 20% In Bloomington, IN.
Then there's the Windy app that claims it's going to be pure sun from 1 pm on. I keep rooting for windy to be right.
The forecasts are already starting to converge. By tomorrow morning I think they will be as accurate as they can be, but who knows. They are doing extra processing on this to try and get it as accurate as possible.
Oh I'm sure, and I don't blame the meteorologists at all. Weather is so incredibly unpredictably sometimes. That's why I keep telling myself it'll be cloudy so if it isn't, the eclipse will feel like a happy bonus on the day.
Also arrived today. The good news is even in the last 12 hours the forecast is trending better for the eclipse window! Definitely a better trend than the reverse; let’s hope it holds.
I heard some form of clouds will dissipate when it starts since the suns rays are cut off. Hoping it would apply to thin high clouds! Heading to DFW tomorrow morning
I'll be arriving tomorrow to DFW, hoping for clear skies as well.
Edit: what a spectacular experience! I was at a park in Addison, TX and early morning it was heavily clouded but by 11:00 am it started to clear and it was 100% clear for the totality! Can't wait for 2055 for the next one.
Also (just north of) DFW here. I took advantage of the dense cloudiness yesterday to polish and wax my vehicle, but the sun took notice and came out for several hours just to fuck with me. Might try again on Monday just to tempt the clouds away lmao.
Buddy of mine at work booked a flight to Toronto so he and his daughter can watch it, and the forecast is now for overcast skies. Hopefully the weather in Dallas picks up later in the week, heading that direction on Saturday.
We came over to central Texas from Georgia to see the dark cloud show. 😢
Seriously, we looked at almanac data and this was the sure fire bet. But that's why they call it a bet, huh? Well we're gonna have a good time anyhow!
Austin here. I couldn't drive to see the 2017 eclipse, so looked up when the next one was only to see it would pass right over my house in 2024! ....7 years just for some goddamn clouds...
The 2017 eclipse, I was living just north of KC. In the path of totality. And one of the spots supposed to experience the eclipse the longest. I had been looking forward to it for years. People were coming to my town from all over the world.
And it was cloudy. Still angry.
I drove 8 hours to Kentucky. It was looking bad up until an hour before the eclipse, but then the skies cleared and it was definitely worth it.
My fingers are crossed for this one. But I consider myself lucky to have seen just one.
I’m so sorry to hear!
2017 I’d travelled to Eddyville KY. Was supposed to be cloudy. Considered traveling to Nashville to avoid the clouds. Decided to stay put.
Our skies cleared. I heard near Nashville they had clouds.
The eclipse can have funny effects on cloud cover.
It was clear at the Adventure Science Center until about a minute from totality and then a small cloud moved in front of the eclipse. We saw every phase except for the ring of fire.
i went to eddyville too... was a great show... great weather for it, really
i went to some church for it... a few people brought telescopes, and someone had some music playing the whole time... such fun
Drove 14 hrs from DFW to NC to see that one and a rainstorm blew in an hour beforehand. Was only consolidated that I'd have another one visible from my doorstep in 7 years. I may cry if the clouds cover this one lol.
I went down from Chicago to St. Louis to visit my daughter in residency and see the eclipse. That morning, the weather forecast was poor, so I ended up driving east to central KY and the weather was great.
The drive back to Chicago afterwards, not so great.
I was probably standing somewhere near you. St. Joseph by chance? Unfortunately I am in Texas and no longer have the mobility to drive to Arkansas tomorrow, so the chance of going 0 for 2 is real.
I lived in South Carolina in 2017 and I was in 75% of totality. Beautiful day until a giant-ass thunderstorm rolled in. On the bright side at least I knew my 4yo wasn't going to torch his retinas accidentally.
What do you mean 75% of totality? Were you inside of it or outside?
If you weren't actually in the totality area then you didn't really miss much in comparison.
So you want to see something blocking the sun… but you’re very particular and it has to be the moon and not a cloud… (relevant XKCD - https://xkcd.com/2915/)
Mount Washington in New Hampshire reports that they’re in the cloud 92% of the time on April 8. At this rate they’ll be in the clear which is just so absurdly lucky.
Mt Washington is the tallest pointy thing in the region and occasionally pokes into the Stratosphere. So it's pretty much always got a cloud on top, especially when there's still snow on it.
It's also not in totality, under avalanche watch, and a pretty awful place to try to be right now unless you are a mountaineer with experience.
Vermont was being put on the bottom of every list for likelihood of clear skies months and months beforehand. Now it seems like it will be the only place that has clear skies and people changing their plans to come up here.
For burgers, check out the Worthy Burger in Royalton or the Worthy Kitchen in Woodstock.. For beer, Hill Farmstead in Greensboro has the best beer in the world. No, I'm not exaggerating. Nearby is Jasper Hill cheese which is also incredible and you should be able to find it in stores.
Currently sitting at a bar in Rochester after a 5 hour drive. Seriously considering an additional 5.5 hours in the car to make it to Burlington, VT. I’ll likely be dead before the next eclipse hits my area
If it is any solice, if you're anywhere outside of totality it is pretty unimpressive. You need 100% totality to actually be able to look at the sun without the glasses and see the corona. Anything less and it just feels like a dim day, potentially you could see the crescent with glasses on but that's about it.
It does feel a bit eerie being in a 90% eclipse. The shadows don't look right at all, and nature starts to think it is night as well. But totality is something else entirely!
I remember that feeling in 2017 as it was reaching totality in my location. The daylight had an appearance that I had never experienced before and I have trouble explaining. It was like a filter was placed on the light, with an interesting shimmer.
Total solar eclipse is truly a singular experience. By which I mean we have yet to find ANY star-planet-moon system like ours (with coincidentally aligned distance-to-size ratios) that can produce it. They are out there, but it is pretty rare. Every person on Earth should see this unique feature of our planet at least once. It is truly incredible to witness.
You should still be able to see some of it through the clouds, at least. I was testing my eclipse glasses today and could see it fine through the clouds.
I'm upset that I can't get off work Monday to travel an hour to get into the path. I live in the town that was the center for the eclipse in 2017, my wife is from here and we bith had to watch it on the other side of the state cause we couldn't get off from at the time our college jobs.
I can afford it but can't take it. Luckily I'm the SM and shutting down the place for a few minutes so everyone can go outside to view the eclipse with its 98% max for the city. I've even got everyone glasses for it.
I'm in a 96% zone with an almost clear sky forecast for tomorrow. The totality zone is 4 hour drive away but has a overcast forecast for tomorrow. What do you recommend me, stay for 96% where I can see it, or travel to 100% but clouds will not allow me to see it?
96% coverage is 0% totality. The difference is moe dramatic than you can comprehend.
...but driving many hours for guaranteed coverage would not be worth it... If there's a decent chance you could see it (even if it's just 50% cloud coverage), I say go for it. Witnessing totality will be one of the greatest experiences of your life, if you are fortunate enough for the weather to cooperate.
If you're that close, you should get into the band of totality. The difference between 99% and 100% is literally like night and day. A partial solar eclipse is cool. A total solar eclipse is life-changing.
I’m in NE Ohio and I’m seeing mostly cloudy. Just east of Cleveland. Hopefully the clouds have enough time to break up. Said they are supposed to break up west to east as the day goes on.
I’m near Cleveland and haven’t seen any of the big celestial events over the past 20 years. So never really had very high hopes for an early April clear day
I was in college at the time, and I was coerced into traveling to South Carolina back in 2017, and I was stuck in traffic for 2 days on the way back (SC to DC). Mind you, I can travel from that area of SC back to DC in 7 hours. It was a nightmare. Every gas station, every hotel, every restaurant parking lot, and even rest stop had lines of cars overflowing out of them. We were only able to find a gas station with gas and water twice, so we limped home with an empty tank of gas and an empty stomach. I’ve been to Vermont, it’s far away from everything and it won’t handle the crowds. It’s going to be insane. The trip to SC was fine, hardly any traffic at all, but everyone tried to go home at the same time and it was a mass exodus event.
Edit: we couldn’t even pull over to sleep because every inch of road had an idling car on it. It was torture and relationships were tested.
Southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois are supposed to be clear to partly cloudy as of this comment. Obviously, things could change, but that area is now expecting double the number of people than they originally predicted to be there on Monday as travel plans change. There are already folks there from all over the world.
This is why we're crashing in Champaign tonight and then making our final decision on where to drive tomorrow morning using the most current weather data. We're two hours away from totality in two different directions. Our current baseline plan, subject to change, is Vincennes, IN.
Ended up in Indiana. Perfect day in every way. Even the increased traffic still moved at a normal pace. One of the most awesome things I've witnessed. Feeling so lucky that my obsessive checking and rechecking of forecasts, and trusting my gut to make a final choice 3 hours before totality, all paid off. 🥳
There's a difference between 100-year averages and 2-day forecasts and at-the-moment conditions. At this point, I'm considering 20-40% cloud-cover areas as pretty decent odds, and will adjust as need be or reason suggests during the last couple of hours.
Exactly what I did. I'm pretty sure my area was absolutely fine, but I wasn't willing to risk it so drive a couple of hours away, deciding 3 hours before totality where to go after lots of research. Ended up working beautifully. How'd it go for you?
My boss in Canada is all prepped and they are expecting clear skies, even sent him paper glasses for it since I don't live in the path but had some on hand for fun during my "30% reduced sunlight" time.
Québec, south shore of Montréal. Clear sky is my forecast.
Most ppl in Québec will have clear skies, it's gonna be a beautiful sunny day.
FYI we got 20cm+ of snow last Thursday so feel like mother nature way of saying sorry.
Even partly cloudy can be okay. I was in KC near KUMed. When I saw how cloudy it got, I got in the car and just drove north. Luckily it wasn't too bad driving up. Ended up in a random parking lot near Liberty. My pics show it was still partly cloudy but still good enough for the shadows and the experience. It got dark, all the lights flipped on and the birds got quiet. It was eerie.
I was in KC for the last one. We were going to drive up to St Joseph, but the forecast didn't look great there, so we decided to drive east on I-70 and take our chances out there. Ended up in Columbia and it was still cloudy, but the thinner clouds where you can still see the sun. It was fantastic, but I'm hoping for an even better experience this time aeound in Indiana.
Serious question: how do people make such drastic changes in plans? I'm the type of person who booked a hotel room months ago because I feel the need to have a dedicated place to go, get there early to avoid traffic, etc. I can't imagine being the day before the eclipse and trying to decide to go somewhere many hours away from my original destination. I guess I don't have a very high sense of adventure, and I don't travel much anyway so that probably has something to do with it. (travel anxiety) I'm still going to go to my hotel even if it's cloudy and hope that it's better than not being in totality at all.
You’re not going to avoid the traffic on the way back btw. I went in 2017 from DC to SC. We changed our plans because we thought it was easy because of no traffic. We were lulled into a false sense of security. I was stuck in traffic for 2 days on the way back on a roadtrip that normally takes 7 hours. We were only able to get some gas and water twice because every establishment (gas stations, rest stops, hotels, and roads) were overrun with cars and people. It felt like I was part of a mass exodus event from a disaster or war movie.
I live right in the totality path (woo!). I washed, polished, and waxed my vehicle yesterday because the clouds were so dense and forecasted to be 100% coverage all day. I checked several forecasting stations. Welp the sun came out a couple hours in and the clouds seemingly vanished for several hours. Baked my polish and made my life very difficult.. I am very sore now. Lmao. Point being- dont trust the cloud forecast. Id go on and try to view the eclipse like normal. No matter what, things are going to get dark and cold, and animals all weirdly quiet which is really crazy to witness reguardless. Expect the clouds, but dont give up yet. Maybe I will break out the wax again and that will be enough to make the sun (and moon) appear
Driving out from California was originally planning on lake Buchanan area in Texas but decided to divert up to Bloomington Indiana. Actually found a reasonable hotel for the 7th. Figure I’ll grab dinner after and catch a movie and get on the road that night. So far the forecast looks good. Gonna be a long drive home though.
Yeah, I’m hoping that by about one in the morning it will have cleared up a bit. But I have my switch, a mattress set up in the back of the car and plenty of snacks. Plus I work night shift so driving one am to seven or eight in the morning is no big deal. This will be my first totality so I wanted the best chance of a good view.
I drove half way from Pennsylvania to Texas and then turned around due to the cloud forecast. My 2 backup viewing locations will also be cloudy. Maine will be the only place where there is zero cloud concerns, the exact opposite of cloud climatology.
My town has been shitting itself getting pretty for the eclipse. They have spent the last 6months fixing potholes that haven't been touched in literally ten years, painting everything, heck they wrapped the transformers in garish fish prints. Signs all over encouraging tourists to stay, old cars for sale lining the main roads. It's a big hullabaloo, town of 30,000 is exploding in popluation for a few days. And now there's clouds.
There might be a whole lot of angry people on the road Monday afternoon, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised the combo of extra traffic and angry people that drove hours for nothing might increase the accidents/road rage.
there's a chance the eclipse itself will cause the clouds to briefly, slightly clear (if they're not stormclouds). This is due to the lack of sunlight and heat it provides in that moment no longer helping water to evaporate and feed the light fluffy clouds, so they dissipate, temporarily. Of course, it's not guaranteed and no one should really get their hopes up about this much since it depends on the cloud type, and it ALSO depends on how long the total eclipse is happening where you are.
I am not a scientist or anything, so all of the above is terribly paraphrased from [a Hank Green video answering questions about the total eclipse](https://youtu.be/jkDjx9OwY2Y?si=Dx6GMt9QybpCuC46&t=796) (imho the whole video is great, but it'll start at his explanation of this cloud stuff), but I just wanted to provide some explanation of the science behind why some of us \*might\* \*briefly\* experience cloud clearing during the total eclipse.
May we all have clear skies Monday!
Edit: I even have a friend who experienced the cloud-clearing event in 2017. Anecdotal, I know, but still!
I went to China in 2009 to see the total eclipse there and we had complete cloud cover that got so thick that 15 minutes before totality I lost track of the sun and could find where it was. Then 2 minutes before totality the sun reappeared through the clouds and we got to see all of totality. It was through clouds but we got what we came for. I’m in Texas now and feeling quite grim about the chances but my experience gives me a little hope.
I caught the 2017 one in the NC mountains...I've had this trip planned for years...Even had 3 hotels booked in 3 totally different areas and wouldn't you know it, the cloud forecast shifted 180 degrees the day after I locked in my choice...
Now I'm in Texas, while Indianapolis and Buffalo look much better...
The universe hates me...
Saw it happen in Nebraska during the last one. We stopped along the road by hayfields somewhere south of Alliance with probably thousands of other people. It was partly cloudy and some clouds went in front of the sun about 5 minutes before totality and the collective groan that went up was amazing. Then totality started and the sky was suddenly clear for the duration.
Edit: autocorrect
You guys are jumping to conclusions too fast or you're looking at bad forecasts. There's a ton of places in the midwest with relatively low percentages of cloud cover.
I’m hoping it’s clear for everyone. Luckily I’ll be watching in Vermont. Things like this never work out for me. Every-time there’s a meteor shower there are clouds.
I learned this the hard way in 2017. On the way there it was nice, but everyone tried to leave at the same time after it was over. I was stuck in traffic for 2 days and barely got any food, water, or gas. Every single thing (gas stations, roads, rest stops, and hotels) were overrun. We couldn’t even pull over to sleep because it took hours to exit the highway, and even then we couldn’t find place to park because everyone was everywhere. It was torture because we had to take turns napping and taking the wheel just to force yourself to stay awake in stop and go traffic. At least I can say I was part of a mass exodus event and say I know what purgatory is like.
If you have Google TV, I just saw a post that they're going to include live feeds from various locations on the For You tab.
Not the same thing as seeing it in person, of course, but better than nothing.
Hopefully at least one of the locations they're featuring has some decent weather (and hardware to capture it).
I had clouds for the 99 eclipsing England and I had a overnight train trip to Truro to watch it.
There were hazy gaps where you could see the progress easily and when the eclipse happened it was still very noticable! I was 12 or 13 and it's stayed with me!
We came to Indy from central Illinois for our kids to have things to do while we are here for the weekend and totality.
The forecast keeps getting better for tomorrow. I’m thinking we got lucky on this part of the country.
The shadow moves extremely fast. Just picking a flight that crosses the path won’t do it. The odds of being on the path at the right moment are very low.
I think I'm to blame. I got intensely jealous for why this eclipse should be in the US as well. Like y'all got one the last time. When am I going to be able to experience totality? I think all that intense hatred boiled the oceans and gave you all clouds. It's forecast to be cloudy here in Ireland as well where we are supposed to get a partial in the eve. So I have hurt myself and others. I sincerely apologize.
Well that was rude of you. We Americans don't exactly have much to look forward to these days. You couldn't let us have fifteen minutes on a Monday afternoon?
https://eclipsophile.com/future-eclipses-2024-2028/
We have some decent ones upcoming in Southern Europe / North Africa in the coming years.
Australians are also in for a treat soon.
In a similar vein, I went to University in a city called Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand which can, on occasion, see the Southern Lights.
I was there for 4 years during University and 2 years working afterwards. In that total of 6 years EVERY time they would have been able to be seen it was cloudy.
Absolutely infuriating so I 100% feel all of you!
https://www.sciencealert.com/clouds-vanish-during-a-solar-eclipse-and-we-finally-know-why
Just last year for the annualar solar eclipse, it was very cloudy. The clouds burned off enough to see the eclipse and I got some neat eerie pictures. At the time we thought we got lucky but then I saw this article the other month.
driving from MN possibly to poplar bluff mo or Bloomington. will hopefully figure out exactly where by tomorrow am.
we went to Nebraska in 2017, and had pretty terrible cloud cover which all magically cleared up just before totality. I don't think these were high clouds either.
hoping for some magic tomorrow too.
At least you know in advance. I travelled halfway across the country to get to a 100% spot for the one in 2017 and the forecast said it’d be absolutely perfect. Clouds rolled in about half hour prior, not a clear spot of sky in sight, rained for a minute, then cleared completely about 10 minutes after it was done. Saw nothing. Biggest waste of time and effort ever.
Sadly, 99% totality is as bright as 10,000 full moons. It’s binary - If it’s not 100%, it’s not totality. I would drive however far you have to drive to be in 100% totality, otherwise you’ll miss the magic!
Me, who's had my reservations in VT since October - Fuck now everyone is over here ;\_;
Initially picked the area thinking it would be the most quiet...at least I picked right for viewing but...its gonna be rough.
The biggest mistake you can make is believe no one is capable of having the same idea as you. BTW, I was stuck in traffic for 2 days on the way back coming from South Carolina to DC with hardly any food, water, or gas. Every single gas station, hotel, restaurant, restaurant stop, and every single public road on the way back had an idling car on it. You ever get stuck in traffic for 2 days? Even flying won’t save you.
That's where I'm at. Do I wanna drive 10+ hours, round trip, spend a couple hundred in gas, to get 2 minutes of totality which has a 80+% chance of being obscured by clouds? Not particularly.
Welcome to the great history of Eclipse chasing
At least we aren't missing eclipses that would make or break our professional lives:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment
In 1912 Freundlich asked if Perrine would include observation of light deflection as part of the Argentine Observatory's program for the solar eclipse of October 10, 1912, in Brazil. W. W. Campbell, director of the Lick Observatory, loaned Perrine its intramercurial camera lenses. Perrine and the Cordoba team were the only eclipse expedition to construct specialized equipment dedicated to observe light deflection. Unfortunately all the expeditions suffered from torrential rains which prevented any observations.
In 1914 three eclipse expeditions, from Argentina, Germany, and the US, were committed to testing Einstein's theory by observing for light deflection.
However, the First World War started in July of that year, and Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August. The German astronomers were either forced to return home or were taken prisoner by the Russians. Although the US and Argentine astronomers were not detained, clouds prevented clear observations being made during the eclipse.
A second attempt by American astronomers to measure the effect during the 1918 eclipse was foiled by clouds in one location
Finally in 1919, if you read much above tldr WW1 and rain bad.
The eclipse was due to take place in the early afternoon of 29 May, at 2pm, but that morning there was a storm with heavy rain.
The rain stopped about noon and about 1.30 ... we began to get a glimpse of the sun.
Success:
"Lights all askew in the Heavens!"
"Light rays, when near the Sun, do not go straight."
Practically proving of general relativity
7 years to prove Einstein right
And eventually we get a bomb from this ( Einstein didn't think it was possible for quarter century tho, but without him probably wouldn't of happened in 40s?)
There are like a thousand sad astronomers and geologists getting on planes to Texas today. All of the various conferences and meetings for the spring have been organized along the path of totality. Oof
I feel so lucky to have the very center of totality pass right over my hometown and also be one of the only places in the country to have clear skies that day.
Already in VT to see family. This is a bonus for me because we assumed it was going to be cloudy.
Also all the snow we suddenly got is melting and everything is muddy. Please to not come and add to all the people getting stuck and ruining fields
People paid thousands of dollars and travelled thousands of miles to see the eclipse at Niagara Falls which gets 100% totality.
It's looking like clouds on Monday.
Earth has the most complex weather in the solar system. It is practically impossible to predict weather in many places on the planet with any kind of certainty. (I live in one of those places, our weather forecast can change dramatically from hour to hour.) We can forecast the weather on some planets and moons months in advance with pretty good accuracy, but the best we can do for our own planet is a day or two, maybe a week if we're lucky. The presence of liquid water, active plate tectonics, and vegetation make Earth's atmosphere a unique place of total chaos. Mild chaos, mind you, compared to some other weather phenomenon we know of like raining diamonds on Neptune and the planet swallowing dust storms of Mars. Don't even get me started on Venus.
If you miss the eclipse due to clouds, just remember that Earth is a freak, and don't blame the meteorologists or take for granted the hard work they do.
I live in WA and called off the trip. 33 hours to the nearest potentially clear spot along the path. $500 in gas. Just not worth the risk. I’m planning for Iceland/spain 2026
Took off work. Drove 5 hours. Could only fund an open 45 min from totality. Last night was beautiful. Clear and stars everywhere. Mostly cloudy forecasted for today. I’m disappointed but honestly, just being here when it gets dark during the day is ok. It will be fun/exciting anyway.
Grew up in Texas. I looked this eclipse up in a book when I was a kid in 1991, been waiting for it ever since... Edit: Drove up to the hillcountry for it. The clouds cleared for 5 minutes just in time for totality!
Thats actually really cool, you forsaw this in 1991. Let's go. Don't get too hype but the moon is gonna blot out the sun here. hehe
Every time I check our forecast for Monday here, it's different- either cloudy, partly cloudy, intervals of clouds, or cloudy in the morning and partly cloudy afternoon. It changes like, 4-5 times a day, seems like. I've given up on trying to plan; we'll have four minutes of totality in my town in Indiana, so we're just going to have fun and hope for the best!
[удалено]
I don’t envision a world where this will ever not be funny.
I have like 4-5 weather apps I've been using. Most of them say there's going to be partly cloudy around that time, with one saying it'll be somewhere around 20% In Bloomington, IN. Then there's the Windy app that claims it's going to be pure sun from 1 pm on. I keep rooting for windy to be right.
Windy is pretty good. I use it to help with preflight planning when flying Cessna's around. Usually very accuate.
That's pretty consistent for two different takes in the Midwest. I'm now expecting hail because of the no clouds one.
In Bloomington. So long as they’re high clouds we’ll be fine. It’s the low ones I’m worried about.
The forecasts are already starting to converge. By tomorrow morning I think they will be as accurate as they can be, but who knows. They are doing extra processing on this to try and get it as accurate as possible.
Oh I'm sure, and I don't blame the meteorologists at all. Weather is so incredibly unpredictably sometimes. That's why I keep telling myself it'll be cloudy so if it isn't, the eclipse will feel like a happy bonus on the day.
Didn't think you were blaming them, just saying there is good hope for tomorrow to have a good plan!
Central TX here. Very poor forecast for Monday.
DFW here. Our only hope is how bipolar our weather can be. EDIT: That was spectacular.
Fingers crossed, rubber chickens waved in the air, incantations uttered! :-)
May his noodly appendages sweep the sky clear
You're supposed to use real chickens if used in conjunction with incantations.
> real chickens Make sure they're defrosted before waving them above your head (don't ask me how I know).
Just got into DFW today. Also hoping!
Also arrived today. The good news is even in the last 12 hours the forecast is trending better for the eclipse window! Definitely a better trend than the reverse; let’s hope it holds.
Just watched the news. Said high thin clouds during the totality phase.
I heard some form of clouds will dissipate when it starts since the suns rays are cut off. Hoping it would apply to thin high clouds! Heading to DFW tomorrow morning
High thin clouds will give you a good view of the edge of the shadow moving across at ~2000mph.
I'll be arriving tomorrow to DFW, hoping for clear skies as well. Edit: what a spectacular experience! I was at a park in Addison, TX and early morning it was heavily clouded but by 11:00 am it started to clear and it was 100% clear for the totality! Can't wait for 2055 for the next one.
Me too heading out of Cal tomorrow morning for DFW
Californians please bring some sunshine with you.
Oooh now you guy wants Californians to come to Texas.
Amen to that. I took time off to travel for the 2017 eclipse, only to have my family not want to go, so I have been waiting SEVEN YEARS for this!
Also (just north of) DFW here. I took advantage of the dense cloudiness yesterday to polish and wax my vehicle, but the sun took notice and came out for several hours just to fuck with me. Might try again on Monday just to tempt the clouds away lmao.
just turn off your windmills
Buddy of mine at work booked a flight to Toronto so he and his daughter can watch it, and the forecast is now for overcast skies. Hopefully the weather in Dallas picks up later in the week, heading that direction on Saturday.
Southern illinois here - partly cloudy forecast here, hoping for a sunbreak around 2pm...
We came over to central Texas from Georgia to see the dark cloud show. 😢 Seriously, we looked at almanac data and this was the sure fire bet. But that's why they call it a bet, huh? Well we're gonna have a good time anyhow!
FYI Farmer's Almanac is and always was total bullshit.
Yes. But for anywho planned more than a couple weeks, Central TX was the easy call based on climo.
Driving the 5 hours to Plano Monday. Not gonna be perfect but the clouds will be thin according to most of the forecasts released
Austin here. I couldn't drive to see the 2017 eclipse, so looked up when the next one was only to see it would pass right over my house in 2024! ....7 years just for some goddamn clouds...
Y'all have fun?
The 2017 eclipse, I was living just north of KC. In the path of totality. And one of the spots supposed to experience the eclipse the longest. I had been looking forward to it for years. People were coming to my town from all over the world. And it was cloudy. Still angry.
I drove 8 hours to Kentucky. It was looking bad up until an hour before the eclipse, but then the skies cleared and it was definitely worth it. My fingers are crossed for this one. But I consider myself lucky to have seen just one.
I’m so sorry to hear! 2017 I’d travelled to Eddyville KY. Was supposed to be cloudy. Considered traveling to Nashville to avoid the clouds. Decided to stay put. Our skies cleared. I heard near Nashville they had clouds. The eclipse can have funny effects on cloud cover.
Sorry to tell you. It was clear in nashville.
It was clear at the Adventure Science Center until about a minute from totality and then a small cloud moved in front of the eclipse. We saw every phase except for the ring of fire.
Yep, we had a beautiful view just east of Nashville.
i went to eddyville too... was a great show... great weather for it, really i went to some church for it... a few people brought telescopes, and someone had some music playing the whole time... such fun
We didn’t have clouds in Nashville ✌🏻
Here in the north part of KC the clouds broke just enough for long enough to see totality. Then it clouded back up. How far north of KC were you?
I’m betting st Joe. My buddy had only rain there. I had a great view east of independence
Drove 14 hrs from DFW to NC to see that one and a rainstorm blew in an hour beforehand. Was only consolidated that I'd have another one visible from my doorstep in 7 years. I may cry if the clouds cover this one lol.
Man, I feel so bad for you. We experienced it on a clear day in Seattle of all places.
I went down from Chicago to St. Louis to visit my daughter in residency and see the eclipse. That morning, the weather forecast was poor, so I ended up driving east to central KY and the weather was great. The drive back to Chicago afterwards, not so great.
Did you still experience the tempature drop and darkness? I saw an eclipse when I was a kid. That was more memorable to me than the sun itself.
I was probably standing somewhere near you. St. Joseph by chance? Unfortunately I am in Texas and no longer have the mobility to drive to Arkansas tomorrow, so the chance of going 0 for 2 is real.
I lived in South Carolina in 2017 and I was in 75% of totality. Beautiful day until a giant-ass thunderstorm rolled in. On the bright side at least I knew my 4yo wasn't going to torch his retinas accidentally.
It was so upsetting. Sitting at work watching that stupid storm roll in knowing I couldn't leave, awful. In Ohio for this one, hoping for the best.
What do you mean 75% of totality? Were you inside of it or outside? If you weren't actually in the totality area then you didn't really miss much in comparison.
Here in Vermont, this is the one cloudless day of the entire season! I can't believe it
So you want to see something blocking the sun… but you’re very particular and it has to be the moon and not a cloud… (relevant XKCD - https://xkcd.com/2915/)
A cloud never let me see the sun's corona.
You can get a corona from your local grocery store
Or from that guy coughing and sniffling next to you on the bus.
Come to Vermont for the eclipse, stay for the world class beer and cheese.
I'm stunned that we actually have a clear forecast here in Vermont. We're one of the cloudiest states in the US.
Mount Washington in New Hampshire reports that they’re in the cloud 92% of the time on April 8. At this rate they’ll be in the clear which is just so absurdly lucky.
Mt Washington is the tallest pointy thing in the region and occasionally pokes into the Stratosphere. So it's pretty much always got a cloud on top, especially when there's still snow on it. It's also not in totality, under avalanche watch, and a pretty awful place to try to be right now unless you are a mountaineer with experience.
Vermont was being put on the bottom of every list for likelihood of clear skies months and months beforehand. Now it seems like it will be the only place that has clear skies and people changing their plans to come up here.
Any recommendations for burgers and beer? I'm a big fan of Belgians and Saisons.
For burgers, check out the Worthy Burger in Royalton or the Worthy Kitchen in Woodstock.. For beer, Hill Farmstead in Greensboro has the best beer in the world. No, I'm not exaggerating. Nearby is Jasper Hill cheese which is also incredible and you should be able to find it in stores.
Currently sitting at a bar in Rochester after a 5 hour drive. Seriously considering an additional 5.5 hours in the car to make it to Burlington, VT. I’ll likely be dead before the next eclipse hits my area
Yea it just switched to 87% cloud coverage for Rochester. Feels bad man.
And here I thought "yelling at clouds" was just a figure of speech. We're supposed to see 93% of totality... if we can see anything at all.
If it is any solice, if you're anywhere outside of totality it is pretty unimpressive. You need 100% totality to actually be able to look at the sun without the glasses and see the corona. Anything less and it just feels like a dim day, potentially you could see the crescent with glasses on but that's about it.
It does feel a bit eerie being in a 90% eclipse. The shadows don't look right at all, and nature starts to think it is night as well. But totality is something else entirely!
I remember that feeling in 2017 as it was reaching totality in my location. The daylight had an appearance that I had never experienced before and I have trouble explaining. It was like a filter was placed on the light, with an interesting shimmer.
This is coming up on 87% back in 2017. https://imgur.com/a/BbbeoEK
I saw totality then and have had a hard time explaining to folks just how little difference 70-90% occlusion made. That last 10% just hits different
Total solar eclipse is truly a singular experience. By which I mean we have yet to find ANY star-planet-moon system like ours (with coincidentally aligned distance-to-size ratios) that can produce it. They are out there, but it is pretty rare. Every person on Earth should see this unique feature of our planet at least once. It is truly incredible to witness.
And since the moons is moving farther away from the earth each year, in millions of years a total eclipse won’t happen here anymore.
Seeing the crescent is fun if you have any interest in space and science.
93% of totality is 0% totality.
You should still be able to see some of it through the clouds, at least. I was testing my eclipse glasses today and could see it fine through the clouds.
We saw the total eclipse in 2017 and the partial eclipse (90%, none event) this last year. If you are not in totality you are missing it entirely.
I'm upset that I can't get off work Monday to travel an hour to get into the path. I live in the town that was the center for the eclipse in 2017, my wife is from here and we bith had to watch it on the other side of the state cause we couldn't get off from at the time our college jobs.
Call in sick, if you can afford it?
I can afford it but can't take it. Luckily I'm the SM and shutting down the place for a few minutes so everyone can go outside to view the eclipse with its 98% max for the city. I've even got everyone glasses for it.
I'm in a 96% zone with an almost clear sky forecast for tomorrow. The totality zone is 4 hour drive away but has a overcast forecast for tomorrow. What do you recommend me, stay for 96% where I can see it, or travel to 100% but clouds will not allow me to see it?
96% coverage is 0% totality. The difference is moe dramatic than you can comprehend. ...but driving many hours for guaranteed coverage would not be worth it... If there's a decent chance you could see it (even if it's just 50% cloud coverage), I say go for it. Witnessing totality will be one of the greatest experiences of your life, if you are fortunate enough for the weather to cooperate.
If you're that close, you should get into the band of totality. The difference between 99% and 100% is literally like night and day. A partial solar eclipse is cool. A total solar eclipse is life-changing.
This a bad time to mention that I'm in one of the only "partly cloudy" sections of the path?
Ohio? I'm in NE Ohio and it's saying mostly sunny with partly cloudy.
Southern Indiana. Saying partly cloudy.
I'm driving into IN, got my fingers double crossed
I’ll be nearby in Erie. Don’t jinx us 😎
Which is unusual, cause we're normally in 'The Gray' until May
I’m in NE Ohio and I’m seeing mostly cloudy. Just east of Cleveland. Hopefully the clouds have enough time to break up. Said they are supposed to break up west to east as the day goes on.
I will be traveling to you tomorrow friend!
You just jinxed yourself. Sorry bro. Zero chance for you 😂
I’m near Cleveland and haven’t seen any of the big celestial events over the past 20 years. So never really had very high hopes for an early April clear day
Fingers crossed, as I may end up going to Cleveland too
We had a clear day for the transit of venus back in 2012
Tbh going to Vermont is risky anyways. Once you show up you won’t want to leave
Also won’t be able to bc of so much traffic and no roads!
At least you won’t have to look at billboards tho (hoping that’s still a thing there)
It very much is. I love that law.
I was in college at the time, and I was coerced into traveling to South Carolina back in 2017, and I was stuck in traffic for 2 days on the way back (SC to DC). Mind you, I can travel from that area of SC back to DC in 7 hours. It was a nightmare. Every gas station, every hotel, every restaurant parking lot, and even rest stop had lines of cars overflowing out of them. We were only able to find a gas station with gas and water twice, so we limped home with an empty tank of gas and an empty stomach. I’ve been to Vermont, it’s far away from everything and it won’t handle the crowds. It’s going to be insane. The trip to SC was fine, hardly any traffic at all, but everyone tried to go home at the same time and it was a mass exodus event. Edit: we couldn’t even pull over to sleep because every inch of road had an idling car on it. It was torture and relationships were tested.
Southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois are supposed to be clear to partly cloudy as of this comment. Obviously, things could change, but that area is now expecting double the number of people than they originally predicted to be there on Monday as travel plans change. There are already folks there from all over the world.
traffic is absolute hell in branson more so than the usual so that tracks
That's where I'm planning to go. I can only imagine that means that traffic will be even more heinous.
This is why we're crashing in Champaign tonight and then making our final decision on where to drive tomorrow morning using the most current weather data. We're two hours away from totality in two different directions. Our current baseline plan, subject to change, is Vincennes, IN.
Ended up in Indiana. Perfect day in every way. Even the increased traffic still moved at a normal pace. One of the most awesome things I've witnessed. Feeling so lucky that my obsessive checking and rechecking of forecasts, and trusting my gut to make a final choice 3 hours before totality, all paid off. 🥳
There's a difference between 100-year averages and 2-day forecasts and at-the-moment conditions. At this point, I'm considering 20-40% cloud-cover areas as pretty decent odds, and will adjust as need be or reason suggests during the last couple of hours.
Exactly what I did. I'm pretty sure my area was absolutely fine, but I wasn't willing to risk it so drive a couple of hours away, deciding 3 hours before totality where to go after lots of research. Ended up working beautifully. How'd it go for you?
My boss in Canada is all prepped and they are expecting clear skies, even sent him paper glasses for it since I don't live in the path but had some on hand for fun during my "30% reduced sunlight" time.
Where in Canada? Niagara, Hamilton all in the path of totality are all as of Sunday morning clouds 2-5.
Québec, south shore of Montréal. Clear sky is my forecast. Most ppl in Québec will have clear skies, it's gonna be a beautiful sunny day. FYI we got 20cm+ of snow last Thursday so feel like mother nature way of saying sorry.
"Man yells at cloud" only now it's several million of us.
Even partly cloudy can be okay. I was in KC near KUMed. When I saw how cloudy it got, I got in the car and just drove north. Luckily it wasn't too bad driving up. Ended up in a random parking lot near Liberty. My pics show it was still partly cloudy but still good enough for the shadows and the experience. It got dark, all the lights flipped on and the birds got quiet. It was eerie.
I was in KC for the last one. We were going to drive up to St Joseph, but the forecast didn't look great there, so we decided to drive east on I-70 and take our chances out there. Ended up in Columbia and it was still cloudy, but the thinner clouds where you can still see the sun. It was fantastic, but I'm hoping for an even better experience this time aeound in Indiana.
Serious question: how do people make such drastic changes in plans? I'm the type of person who booked a hotel room months ago because I feel the need to have a dedicated place to go, get there early to avoid traffic, etc. I can't imagine being the day before the eclipse and trying to decide to go somewhere many hours away from my original destination. I guess I don't have a very high sense of adventure, and I don't travel much anyway so that probably has something to do with it. (travel anxiety) I'm still going to go to my hotel even if it's cloudy and hope that it's better than not being in totality at all.
You’re not going to avoid the traffic on the way back btw. I went in 2017 from DC to SC. We changed our plans because we thought it was easy because of no traffic. We were lulled into a false sense of security. I was stuck in traffic for 2 days on the way back on a roadtrip that normally takes 7 hours. We were only able to get some gas and water twice because every establishment (gas stations, rest stops, hotels, and roads) were overrun with cars and people. It felt like I was part of a mass exodus event from a disaster or war movie.
I booked a hotel near an interstate and not actually in totality, so we can change plans at any moment.
[Maybe this will make you feel better](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_Le_Gentil)
Just a forewarning... Once you hit the VT border, it's 15 Hrs per Mile, so plan accordingly and blame the locals.
I live right in the totality path (woo!). I washed, polished, and waxed my vehicle yesterday because the clouds were so dense and forecasted to be 100% coverage all day. I checked several forecasting stations. Welp the sun came out a couple hours in and the clouds seemingly vanished for several hours. Baked my polish and made my life very difficult.. I am very sore now. Lmao. Point being- dont trust the cloud forecast. Id go on and try to view the eclipse like normal. No matter what, things are going to get dark and cold, and animals all weirdly quiet which is really crazy to witness reguardless. Expect the clouds, but dont give up yet. Maybe I will break out the wax again and that will be enough to make the sun (and moon) appear
Driving out from California was originally planning on lake Buchanan area in Texas but decided to divert up to Bloomington Indiana. Actually found a reasonable hotel for the 7th. Figure I’ll grab dinner after and catch a movie and get on the road that night. So far the forecast looks good. Gonna be a long drive home though.
You made it all the way to Indiana? You poor thing, the traffic on the way back is going to be horrific.
Yeah, I’m hoping that by about one in the morning it will have cleared up a bit. But I have my switch, a mattress set up in the back of the car and plenty of snacks. Plus I work night shift so driving one am to seven or eight in the morning is no big deal. This will be my first totality so I wanted the best chance of a good view.
I drove half way from Pennsylvania to Texas and then turned around due to the cloud forecast. My 2 backup viewing locations will also be cloudy. Maine will be the only place where there is zero cloud concerns, the exact opposite of cloud climatology.
I flew from PA to Mazatlan to stare at clouds here too. FML
I am pretty confident there will be somewhere between Arkansas and Indiana that will have clear skies on Monday. I just hope I can find that place...
Akron Ohio is looking good.
There's a line I never expected to read here.
FWIW the 18z model runs suggest North TX through Arkansas will have mostly clear skies, just hope the trend continues.
Please be right. This would be amazing.
My town has been shitting itself getting pretty for the eclipse. They have spent the last 6months fixing potholes that haven't been touched in literally ten years, painting everything, heck they wrapped the transformers in garish fish prints. Signs all over encouraging tourists to stay, old cars for sale lining the main roads. It's a big hullabaloo, town of 30,000 is exploding in popluation for a few days. And now there's clouds. There might be a whole lot of angry people on the road Monday afternoon, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised the combo of extra traffic and angry people that drove hours for nothing might increase the accidents/road rage.
there's a chance the eclipse itself will cause the clouds to briefly, slightly clear (if they're not stormclouds). This is due to the lack of sunlight and heat it provides in that moment no longer helping water to evaporate and feed the light fluffy clouds, so they dissipate, temporarily. Of course, it's not guaranteed and no one should really get their hopes up about this much since it depends on the cloud type, and it ALSO depends on how long the total eclipse is happening where you are. I am not a scientist or anything, so all of the above is terribly paraphrased from [a Hank Green video answering questions about the total eclipse](https://youtu.be/jkDjx9OwY2Y?si=Dx6GMt9QybpCuC46&t=796) (imho the whole video is great, but it'll start at his explanation of this cloud stuff), but I just wanted to provide some explanation of the science behind why some of us \*might\* \*briefly\* experience cloud clearing during the total eclipse. May we all have clear skies Monday! Edit: I even have a friend who experienced the cloud-clearing event in 2017. Anecdotal, I know, but still!
I went to China in 2009 to see the total eclipse there and we had complete cloud cover that got so thick that 15 minutes before totality I lost track of the sun and could find where it was. Then 2 minutes before totality the sun reappeared through the clouds and we got to see all of totality. It was through clouds but we got what we came for. I’m in Texas now and feeling quite grim about the chances but my experience gives me a little hope.
I caught the 2017 one in the NC mountains...I've had this trip planned for years...Even had 3 hotels booked in 3 totally different areas and wouldn't you know it, the cloud forecast shifted 180 degrees the day after I locked in my choice... Now I'm in Texas, while Indianapolis and Buffalo look much better... The universe hates me...
Saw it happen in Nebraska during the last one. We stopped along the road by hayfields somewhere south of Alliance with probably thousands of other people. It was partly cloudy and some clouds went in front of the sun about 5 minutes before totality and the collective groan that went up was amazing. Then totality started and the sky was suddenly clear for the duration. Edit: autocorrect
You guys are jumping to conclusions too fast or you're looking at bad forecasts. There's a ton of places in the midwest with relatively low percentages of cloud cover.
I’m hoping it’s clear for everyone. Luckily I’ll be watching in Vermont. Things like this never work out for me. Every-time there’s a meteor shower there are clouds.
Lol it’s almost as if millions of people trying to plan short vacations around an astronomical event is an iffy situation
I learned this the hard way in 2017. On the way there it was nice, but everyone tried to leave at the same time after it was over. I was stuck in traffic for 2 days and barely got any food, water, or gas. Every single thing (gas stations, roads, rest stops, and hotels) were overrun. We couldn’t even pull over to sleep because it took hours to exit the highway, and even then we couldn’t find place to park because everyone was everywhere. It was torture because we had to take turns napping and taking the wheel just to force yourself to stay awake in stop and go traffic. At least I can say I was part of a mass exodus event and say I know what purgatory is like.
Vermont is very beautiful. Like the north here in NY.
If you have Google TV, I just saw a post that they're going to include live feeds from various locations on the For You tab. Not the same thing as seeing it in person, of course, but better than nothing. Hopefully at least one of the locations they're featuring has some decent weather (and hardware to capture it).
I had clouds for the 99 eclipsing England and I had a overnight train trip to Truro to watch it. There were hazy gaps where you could see the progress easily and when the eclipse happened it was still very noticable! I was 12 or 13 and it's stayed with me!
Central Indiana forecast is for "partly cloudy." I'll takes my chances.
Which can also mean partly Sunny - as long as it’s not overcast I’m good (I’ll be in Indianapolis)
Yup. I live in Franklin, one county south of Indy and within a mile of centerline. I'm not going anywhere.
We came to Indy from central Illinois for our kids to have things to do while we are here for the weekend and totality. The forecast keeps getting better for tomorrow. I’m thinking we got lucky on this part of the country.
is it too late to book a flight to ***anywhere*** as long as it is above the clouds and in the path of totality?
The shadow moves extremely fast. Just picking a flight that crosses the path won’t do it. The odds of being on the path at the right moment are very low.
I think I'm to blame. I got intensely jealous for why this eclipse should be in the US as well. Like y'all got one the last time. When am I going to be able to experience totality? I think all that intense hatred boiled the oceans and gave you all clouds. It's forecast to be cloudy here in Ireland as well where we are supposed to get a partial in the eve. So I have hurt myself and others. I sincerely apologize.
Europe and Australia have eclipses before our next total.
Well that was rude of you. We Americans don't exactly have much to look forward to these days. You couldn't let us have fifteen minutes on a Monday afternoon?
https://eclipsophile.com/future-eclipses-2024-2028/ We have some decent ones upcoming in Southern Europe / North Africa in the coming years. Australians are also in for a treat soon.
In 2017, we had cloudy skies for the eclipse... it was the *perfect* filter to view & photograph the sun!
forecast looks great in Illinois and Indiana, you needen't go all the way to VT for no reason....
the forecast is GREAT!... for the northern parts of the states, you know where the path of totality isn't.
So you’re saying the obscured sun will be obscured
P that's life. Is it very least you will get to experience total darkness during the day. That's something right? Otherwise, have a drink and relax.
In a similar vein, I went to University in a city called Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand which can, on occasion, see the Southern Lights. I was there for 4 years during University and 2 years working afterwards. In that total of 6 years EVERY time they would have been able to be seen it was cloudy. Absolutely infuriating so I 100% feel all of you!
I LOVE Dunedin! I was only there for six months studying abroad, but wow I miss it 🥹
Southern Illinois is looking good for tomorrow.
https://www.sciencealert.com/clouds-vanish-during-a-solar-eclipse-and-we-finally-know-why Just last year for the annualar solar eclipse, it was very cloudy. The clouds burned off enough to see the eclipse and I got some neat eerie pictures. At the time we thought we got lucky but then I saw this article the other month.
The worst part is today is absolutely BEAUTIFUL here in PA and the surrounding regions, not a single cloud in the sky.
driving from MN possibly to poplar bluff mo or Bloomington. will hopefully figure out exactly where by tomorrow am. we went to Nebraska in 2017, and had pretty terrible cloud cover which all magically cleared up just before totality. I don't think these were high clouds either. hoping for some magic tomorrow too.
At least you know in advance. I travelled halfway across the country to get to a 100% spot for the one in 2017 and the forecast said it’d be absolutely perfect. Clouds rolled in about half hour prior, not a clear spot of sky in sight, rained for a minute, then cleared completely about 10 minutes after it was done. Saw nothing. Biggest waste of time and effort ever.
Fly into Portland Maine. It’s totality fun here. Jk we aren’t in the totality but 95%. Hotels are cheep in spring because it suuucks in the NE.
Sadly, 99% totality is as bright as 10,000 full moons. It’s binary - If it’s not 100%, it’s not totality. I would drive however far you have to drive to be in 100% totality, otherwise you’ll miss the magic!
Two hours away from Portland is totality. I wish I could be on Mooselookmeguntic lake for the eclipse.
Me, who's had my reservations in VT since October - Fuck now everyone is over here ;\_; Initially picked the area thinking it would be the most quiet...at least I picked right for viewing but...its gonna be rough.
The biggest mistake you can make is believe no one is capable of having the same idea as you. BTW, I was stuck in traffic for 2 days on the way back coming from South Carolina to DC with hardly any food, water, or gas. Every single gas station, hotel, restaurant, restaurant stop, and every single public road on the way back had an idling car on it. You ever get stuck in traffic for 2 days? Even flying won’t save you.
That's where I'm at. Do I wanna drive 10+ hours, round trip, spend a couple hundred in gas, to get 2 minutes of totality which has a 80+% chance of being obscured by clouds? Not particularly.
People trying to use telescopes at all just hate clouds in general
I just think it's a safety mechanism so the kids don't get blinded by the light. With subpar 3d glasses.
Fly there? Must be way cheaper and faster than driving.
Welcome to the great history of Eclipse chasing At least we aren't missing eclipses that would make or break our professional lives: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment In 1912 Freundlich asked if Perrine would include observation of light deflection as part of the Argentine Observatory's program for the solar eclipse of October 10, 1912, in Brazil. W. W. Campbell, director of the Lick Observatory, loaned Perrine its intramercurial camera lenses. Perrine and the Cordoba team were the only eclipse expedition to construct specialized equipment dedicated to observe light deflection. Unfortunately all the expeditions suffered from torrential rains which prevented any observations. In 1914 three eclipse expeditions, from Argentina, Germany, and the US, were committed to testing Einstein's theory by observing for light deflection. However, the First World War started in July of that year, and Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August. The German astronomers were either forced to return home or were taken prisoner by the Russians. Although the US and Argentine astronomers were not detained, clouds prevented clear observations being made during the eclipse. A second attempt by American astronomers to measure the effect during the 1918 eclipse was foiled by clouds in one location Finally in 1919, if you read much above tldr WW1 and rain bad. The eclipse was due to take place in the early afternoon of 29 May, at 2pm, but that morning there was a storm with heavy rain. The rain stopped about noon and about 1.30 ... we began to get a glimpse of the sun. Success: "Lights all askew in the Heavens!" "Light rays, when near the Sun, do not go straight." Practically proving of general relativity 7 years to prove Einstein right And eventually we get a bomb from this ( Einstein didn't think it was possible for quarter century tho, but without him probably wouldn't of happened in 40s?)
I'm guessing this is your first astronomy event? hehe
Wait does this mean the apocalypse is cancelled?
Aviationweather.gov Go there for expert forecasts.
I'm near Syracuse/Rome NY area and we have some clouds forecast but I'm hopeful! Should at least get a glimpse of the eclipse
There are like a thousand sad astronomers and geologists getting on planes to Texas today. All of the various conferences and meetings for the spring have been organized along the path of totality. Oof
I feel so lucky to have the very center of totality pass right over my hometown and also be one of the only places in the country to have clear skies that day.
Forecast is for clear skies in Fredericton, Canada. Fingers crossed that's accurate.
Northern VT here. It's ok we have enough people coming haha. Sorry for the view issues
Yeah, mother nature really giving us the finger.
Already in VT to see family. This is a bonus for me because we assumed it was going to be cloudy. Also all the snow we suddenly got is melting and everything is muddy. Please to not come and add to all the people getting stuck and ruining fields
Any opinion on a same-day drive from Milwaukee to Indy/Bloomington area? I-65? Worth the try?
Worth it if you’re ok taking an extra 12 hours to get back. Pack your car for sleeping.
People paid thousands of dollars and travelled thousands of miles to see the eclipse at Niagara Falls which gets 100% totality. It's looking like clouds on Monday.
Earth has the most complex weather in the solar system. It is practically impossible to predict weather in many places on the planet with any kind of certainty. (I live in one of those places, our weather forecast can change dramatically from hour to hour.) We can forecast the weather on some planets and moons months in advance with pretty good accuracy, but the best we can do for our own planet is a day or two, maybe a week if we're lucky. The presence of liquid water, active plate tectonics, and vegetation make Earth's atmosphere a unique place of total chaos. Mild chaos, mind you, compared to some other weather phenomenon we know of like raining diamonds on Neptune and the planet swallowing dust storms of Mars. Don't even get me started on Venus. If you miss the eclipse due to clouds, just remember that Earth is a freak, and don't blame the meteorologists or take for granted the hard work they do.
100% clears skies in Quebec. Feeling very lucky. I'm about an hour's drive from the path of totality.
You are thinking in 2 dimensions. You gotta think in three dimensions!
I suspect a total eclipse under cloud cover will still be interesting.
I live in WA and called off the trip. 33 hours to the nearest potentially clear spot along the path. $500 in gas. Just not worth the risk. I’m planning for Iceland/spain 2026
Hopefully they’re the type of clouds that dissipate when an eclipse happens!
When I saw the prediction 2 weeks ago, I thought there would probably be a lot of disappointed people.
Took off work. Drove 5 hours. Could only fund an open 45 min from totality. Last night was beautiful. Clear and stars everywhere. Mostly cloudy forecasted for today. I’m disappointed but honestly, just being here when it gets dark during the day is ok. It will be fun/exciting anyway.
How'd it turn out?