Total Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024

[Dawg52]

Cloudy in Mississippi but I didn't have any eclipse glasses anyway. But it will be interesting to see how dim it gets.

 

[FI_RElater]

You couldn't be more wrong. As one eclipse watcher told me the day before the 2017 total eclipse (we saw totality in central Oregon), "The difference between a total eclipse and a near-total eclipse, is like the difference between death and a near-death experience."

...so you were one of those "foreigners" that came in, and likely clogged 97.
Our place was north of Bend/Redmond and the sheriff had given us info on how they were preparing for the tens of thousands expected (and many did show up).
We stayed off the road, just went about a mile from our house for a more unobstructed view (we normally were just concerned with our Cascades view)...and some people must have turned off the road and found our area. But we did have clear sky and TOTALITY.

Now having moved, we're now also in totality, just not the centerline... and so far just light clouds... we'll see how it compares to 2017.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Watching it on the NASA live feed.

 

[aja8888]

Raining here in the area north of Houston, TX. No eclipse here that I can see!

 

[Trailwalker]

Watching Torreon, Mexico on the Exploratorium Youtube Channel. It was interesting. That channel has continued coverage as the sun moves east.

 

[Major Tom]

I'm in Northern California, where we're expecting about 30% coverage IIRC. I just walked outside. Blue skies and sun, and it did seem a bit dimmer than usual.

 

[aja8888]

Even with the heavy rain and storm clouds, it's getting very dark here as the peak eclipse time for here is right now. It's like 9 PM at night.

 

[Ronstar]

Not bad for a cell phone

 

[anethum]

...so you were one of those "foreigners" that came in, and likely clogged 97.
Our place was north of Bend/Redmond and the sheriff had given us info on how they were preparing for the tens of thousands expected (and many did show up).
We stayed off the road, just went about a mile from our house for a more unobstructed view (we normally were just concerned with our Cascades view)...and some people must have turned off the road and found our area. But we did have clear sky and TOTALITY.

Now having moved, we're now also in totality, just not the centerline... and so far just light clouds... we'll see how it compares to 2017.

"Foreigner", yes, but we didn't clog up I-97. We were staying with friends in Bend and took back roads into totality and watched the glorious spectacle from near the base of the Cascades a bit west of I-97. We had no problem at all with traffic after the eclipse, but we weren't leaving Bend that day anyway.

 

[Car-Guy]

Not bad for a cell phone

My cellphone pictures didn't come out as well. But we had enough breaks in the clouds that we got a lot of 2 and 3 minutes views as it progressed. It got to about 99% here, as projected... Very cool... Never really got totally dark, sort of very late dusk. We have been coming out of it now for about 15 mins.


Reminded me of "Pac-Man" when it was only about 1/3 covered.

 

[bbbamI]

We had 'chunky' cloud cover and I was afraid we'd miss all of it, but we didn't. The clouds parted and we saw the moon slowly covering the sun and then total eclipse. It was the most awesome sight I've ever seen! It got so dark the street lights came on and we could see a few stars.

 

[SecondCor521]

Saw about 30 seconds of totality and had about 3:30 of totality that was obscured by clouds. Still awesome, and staying here with family so I figured it was a win regardless.

 

[disneysteve]

Very cool to watch. Some clouds are blocking the full experience but still neat when there’s a break.

 

[ls99]

Nothing to see in SW PA. Thick clouds, now at 3:19 PM it is getting fairly dark.

 

[Montecfo]

Clear skies here on my deck in Nova. They said was about 90% covered at peak. Looked like more.

 

[youbet]

Bluebird skies here in Chicago where we observed 95% totality. It was surprisingly bright even at the max 95% coverage.

We drove to Tennessee in 2017 and camped at a state park where 100% totality occurred and lasted several minutes. In that case, it got surprisingly dark, birds started their evening routines and temps dropped sharply. But here at 95%, not much to observe other than the sun/moon relationship.

 

[Major Tom]

Bluebird skies here in Chicago where we observed 95% totality. It was surprisingly bright even at the max 95% coverage.

I guess that's evidence (if not actual proof) of how very bright the sun is.

 

[Ronstar]

Bloomington Indiana park has a Pink Floyd tribute band playing the entire Dark Side of the Moon album. How fitting.

 

[CardsFan]

I happened to catch a local TV station yesterday giving "tips" for the eclipse. The number 1 "tip" was to not wear the eclipse glasses while driving

Well, I might have too rash dismissing the above tip as unnecessary. DW was driving back from her mom's as the eclipse started, and sure enough she saw folks driving down the highway with their eclipse glasses on glancing between the road and the sun. I guess "you can't fix Stupid". Cue Ron White.

 

[sengsational]

I guess that's evidence (if not actual proof) of how very bright the sun is.

Or maybe proof how adaptable our eyes are. We got 80% and it was as if I had sunglasses on.

 

[braumeister]

Appeared to be somewhere between 95 and 98 percent coverage at our house. Most impressive. It was like evening light, but somehow strange.
This was the second "almost total" eclipse I've seen, and it once again made me think I'd like to get the total experience sometime if possible.

I don't expect to be here for the next one in the US, but there will be one in August 2026 that can be seen from Iceland and Spain. Hmm...

 

[disneysteve]

Appeared to be somewhere between 95 and 98 percent coverage at our house. Most impressive. It was like evening light, but somehow strange.
This was the second "almost total" eclipse I've seen, and it once again made me think I'd like to get the total experience sometime if possible.

I don't expect to be here for the next one in the US, but there will be one in August 2026 that can be seen from Iceland and Spain. Hmm...

There is a total eclipse every 18 months somewhere on earth. You might need to be on a boat to see it but they’re not uncommon.

 

[RunningBum]

Bloomington Indiana park has a Pink Floyd tribute band playing the entire Dark Side of the Moon album. How fitting.

I had that album playing while watching from my lawn chair in my driveway. I think I was something like 85% totality, so didn't expect much. At times clouds obscured any view, but much of the time I could see it through my eclipse glasses.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Sounds like a potential disaster.

FWIW, the correct pronunciation of the town of Burnet is "burn it".

It’s burn it , dern it. Now learn it!

 

[MuirWannabe]

Beautiful view of totality here in north Dallas. McKinney area. Saw the whole thing really. Weather reports were not helpful.
Far exceeded my expectations. What a great show from God. A spiritual moment for sure.