How's Yours? . . . . (eclipse, that is)

Question

My husband and I opted to avoid the three ring circus of traffic that we expected there would be in and near the band of totality, which is only about 70 miles north of us.  We relied on CNN's map that forecast 96% totality at our house and figured that should be enough for us.

We're having a splendid day - the weather is magnificent - clear sky, bright sunshine and all.  I prepared a picnic lunch and we gleefully anticipated enjoying it on the deck while experiencing the eclipse.  Well ... not a whole lot happened.  For about 15 minutes, the day was not quite as bright as before and after, but it was still bright, clear, and fairly normal.

We are terribly disappointed and I hope to hear some success experiences stories here. Soooooo ..... how's yours?

Comments

On April 8, 2024, there will be a total eclipse in Piedras Negras, Mexico; Dallas, TX; Hot Springs, Arkansas; Poplar Bluff, MO; Bloomington, IN; Cleveland, OH and Buffalo, NY.

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So if it gets to Buffalo, does that mean it might stretch across the lake and reach Toronto, Ontario as well? Can't wait to see that!!

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Robynne, there must be a website someplace that shows the band of totality, which I would expect is about 70 miles wide.  Learn from my experience, though - Scott's also - it seems to be an all or nothing proposition.  Unless you have totality, it's probably not going to seem any different from normal.

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Well I found the website and this one is also from west to east but starts in Mexico and ends up in the Canadian Maritimes. Toronto looks to be JUST outside of Totality - but we may get more than 76 percent in 2024!!

https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/april-8-2024/

The image showing the path looks wonderful!!

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Looks like we may need to travel from Toronto to either Hamilton or perhaps even to St Catherines or Niagara Falls to actually get inside the path of Totality!!

I'm sure we can manage something along those lines!!!

We have 7 years to plan for this!!!  LOL

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https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/april-8-2024/

Looks like Montreal will have totality and Toronto will be very close.

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I did get to see the eclipse start, but then a nice thunder storm rolled in. I understand that just 26 miles south in Charleston SC the view was much better.

Answer 1

Was watching the local news and going outside to watch as well; then a neighbor gave me a pair of eclipse sunglasses and wow, awesome view. Then it was like dusk, not totally dark but our night lights outside came on and all. Here is a picture taken, showing the total eclipse where I was at!! (this was in Sumner County, Tennessee).

Comments

Wow, Dorothy, that must have been an incredible experience!  Your photo looks as good - no, better - than the news photos that I had decided were a bunch of worthless hype.  I'm so glad you were able to enjoy that!!!

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Thanks Susan for Best Answer!

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Gaile, sometimes I think the extra hype was to bring in visitors to make money for the cities and towns in the path of the eclipse. Not sure for everywhere, but, for some areas they didn't get the crowds they expected from what I could tell. For us in my area, the weather was perfect and the clouds stayed away just enough to get the perfect view. Glad you didn't have to experience the traffic afterword, I know I didn't want to get out there and drive!!!

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Love it!

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I don't see a photo?

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try again, its there!

or go here:

https://s27.postimg.org/jrgj1sl2r/21034336_10156386167841808_888384901560416795_n.jpg

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Amazing photo

Answer 2

My first total solar eclipse (I've seen partials before). Our 90+ seconds of totality went by very fast, what with looking at the corona, looking for planets, and looking at the color of the sky and the surroundings. And when the sun came back, we noticed how much cooler the air was than it had been an hour or so earlier.

Comments

THANX for sharing that, Ellen.  I guess it really was great, but only for those who had totality.

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I was lucky enough to see a total eclipse in 1999 near Munich, Bavaria in Germany.  It was really quick.  The roosters crowed like it was morning afterward.  :)

Answer 3

Yep - about the same here. Was at work, heard it was happening soon, went outside to find a crowd out in front of the building. There were people in those weird sunglasses, people shading their eyes to look right at it, people doing the selfie thing to get a photograph, others with more interesting camera phone telescopes... and everyone looked kinda disappointed. I guess I had just missed the high point of the eclipse, and most of them were shaking their heads at how lame it was.

So I milled about, tried to get a picture, and as I'm trying to get a good look, a huge cloud passed over the sun and it was pretty much all over.

At least I got to hang outside with everyone for about 15-20 minutes in the middle of the day. I wasn't expecting much, so guess I wasn't totally disappointed. But it was kind of... meh.

Comments

Oh and here in Indianapolis, we were expecting about - oh I dunno - maybe 80-85% totality? Guess we got that - probably would have been better if I'd gone to Kentucky where they were getting the good stuff.

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I'm beginning to draw the conclusion that it was an all-or-nothing kinda thing.  My current theory is that even a little bit of sun showing is bright enough to not be any kind of noticeable difference from all of it showing.

By the way, I'm near Huntsville, AL.

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On one of the TV stations they said even a 1 degree difference made a huge difference in what you saw.

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It was funny, too. About 30 minutes after the eclipse, I heard thunder, the sky got dark and we were joking about the apocalypse. Then it opened up and poured down rain everywhere. I was getting ready to look for the Ark to float by if it kept up. Worst part was I left work in the middle of it, and was soaked by the time I got to my car in the parking lot. It cleared up by the time I reached home, but just a weird weather day.

Answer 4

I tried to upload a photo but still can not get it to work. We only got a partial here 2024 is going to be a total for us so maybe then.

 Try  looking here https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Photos_and_sources_for_Dale_Byers

Comments

Did it make any big difference?  I can't wait to see what your photo shows.  I really expected 96% to be a big deal instead of a complete nothing.

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It looks like the sky is dark - or nearly dark - but the sun doesn't look like anything's covering it other than clouds.

Here's Dale's photo:

 

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It was noticeable at about 75% and we used the special glasses earlier but I could not get any pictures until our grandson came over, by then it was almost over. In 2024 I will be in the path of totality because we are only about 30 miles from Cleveland, Ohio, that will be the good one.

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Cool photo!

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Amazing photo

Answer 5

Here in Toronto, we got 76% eclipse - the sun was 76% covered up by the moon.

The light was quite muted but not at all dark. Everything was still. Very quiet too - no birds and practically no traffic. I think everyone was inside glued to their TVs!!

Comments

Well, 96% in Alabama was not any discernable difference.  With dark glasses, the sun was still very bright and appeared to remain round the entire time.

Answer 6

This was through a Lincolns welders shield.

Comments

Stunning photo, Steve, but - again - I don't see where the sun is at all covered by anything other than clouds.  That photo looks worthy of entering in some contest, though!

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I am so jealous of all these cool photos!   The Science Channel had an amazing video of the corona, the beads, and the ring that flared out like a prism with different colors.  It was fast but it was spectacular. I did not see that here but I did get to see it thanks to TV.

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If you look to the right side of the sun, the moon is a shady circle that looks like it is either approaching or moving away from the sun. It's only a small nibble out of the sun in this picture as far as I can tell.

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That looks like part of the cloud to me.

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Wow great photo

Answer 7

I have to say, I wasn't expecting much in Connecticut, but it was a total non-event. I took pictures, but it just looks like a round son. There was some light cloud cover, so I suppose the diffraction from the clouds masked what little was happening.

Comments

There wasn't a cloud in the sky here to mask anything ... unfortunately, there didn't seem to be anything, though.

Answer 8

We had a tiny spot of the show. Lasted 2 minutes. Blinked and it was gone, Sun faded like a cloudy day. Glad Grandkids saw the Or. on TV

Answer 9

I live in Fenton, a SW suburb of St Louis.  We are in the 100% path but not the 100% totality... off by about a 20 minute drive not very far.  We had the darkening but it was more like twilight.  You could hear the cicadas We saw the bright red orange crescent but did not get the extreme corona or beading or what they call the diamond ring...   I did see those on TV though.

I had gotten the special approved glasses and passed them out to family ad friends and my 5 year old granddaughter said it was really exciting and enjoyed it.  My daughterinlaw who is a nurse at a school said it was not as spectacular where she was because it was overcast.  

I was surprised at how few people in the neighborhood were out taking part in the experience.  But I am glad we did it.

Answer 10

We got 85%...the sky dimmed, the birds got more active, nothing more.

Answer 11

My wife and I had completely different experiences, just a few miles apart, me at the office, and her at home. We were in the 92% zone. She was disappointed and didn't notice it getting darker, but I noticed it. It wasn't really dark, but almost dusk, but more like a cloud passing over. And it was noticeably cooler too, but probably because I was closer to the water than she was. Just as it was starting, the fog had rolled in over Alki Point across the bay as the temperature dropped. She couldn't get a pinhole shadow to work, but it worked fine for me. And I got to borrow some glasses from friends at work. But she did manage to accidentally capture a lens flair reflection of the eclipse when she tried to take a direct unfiltered photo.

Answer 12

Just weird ... we're in northern Colorado and it was going to be around 95% so, we didn't expect a lot but something.  We're on our deck and I bring out a clock so that we know when 11:46 is going to be ... we take turns now and then looking through the glasses and it is kind of cool.  I try and take some pictures and they pretty much look like sun photos.  As the 'total' time comes and passes it looks like 6 of 7 in the evening ... a bit darker but not much and no temperature decrease ... pretty disappointing.

A really funny thing was a report from Denver where some guy was commenting on the darkness and the drop in temperature ... what, it was even less down there, like 92%?  Hmmm, maybe it's the marijuana thing ... lol.

Answer 13

Not at all dramatic here in North Carolina.either. Dim as if a cloudy day for 15 minutes, and then back to a brilliant clear sunny day. At maximum, there was only a thin sliver of a cresent sun on top, yet enough to keep the day quite well lit. I suspect that even with total coverage, the corona provides a lot of light.

Answer 14

We drove to Wyoming to experience totality.  We avoided the crowds in the Tetons and joined mostly native Wyoming residents in the vast BLM viewing area near the Wind River reservation, where we camped for free with others who were 1/4 mile away--just far enough--and experienced totality for 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Crickets chirped! We had a variety of viewing methods, but the winner were binoculars designed for the eclipse. It took 5 hours to drive there and 7 hours to drive back because of jammed traffic.  But it was spectacular.

Answer 15

They predicted our peak at 2:20-2:25 PM in northern New York at about
60% effect.  I took a book and sat outside, since I didn't have the approved eyewear.  I felt (I think) about 2 seconds of very slight shadow and drop in
temperature but still think it was just the result of a cloud.  We are supposed
to be in the path of 2024 eclipse but I'm not sure I'll hold my breath in any anticipation.  Save the special glasses  that short time.  They were very
hard to find according to the news in this area in the last several days.

Comments

If you are anywhere near totality next time, it's really special.

Answer 16

Here's a link to one of my views of it.. We were suppose to have 99% but it just got semi dusk but nothing major.