120 replies to this topic

[Seachange79]

Turkey Bayou, Shawnee National Forest, Illinois

Some high clouds, including one that moved over the sun just in time for totality! But, the view was not obstructed and I'm quite pleased with my images.

SUCCESS!!!

[MRP]

South of Norwalk, OH.
High thin cirrus for the whole afternoon but did not affect the view. The high clouds actually made the oncoming dark shadow more visible. 
The weather was a miracle, considering what it’s usually like here in Northern Ohio on April 8th!

[Exeligmos]

Jackson, Missouri was a complete success. A few cirrus clouds never affected totality, but they did enhance the sky a bit.

[fiston]

It was incredible!

 

Houlton, ME perfectly clear.

Fine corona strands visible.

[MeteorBoy]

From Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario (20km north of Niagara Falls).

 

I spent tens of hours preparing for the only total that I have ever had, or will ever have (I'm 72).  I live in Toronto where max was 99.9% (of course) so I had to use a hotel room and drive 150 km around Lake Ontario to get into that last 0.1% of totality.  I brought with me three tripods of cameras, telescopes and sensors to perform nine experiments.

 

My Weather

• All three days before the eclipse- sunny.
• Both days after the eclipse - sunny.
• During the eclipse - 100% cloudy (cleared up just after the last contact).

This has been my luck doing astronomy for 58 years now.  Dated astro events have never worked for me.  Using my 9th-floor inner-city balcony and imaging when I see it's clear is the way I do astronomy.  I'm just so used of this.

 

I'm actually a half-glass full kind of guy so I take advantage of whatever I can get.

 

And this is what I got on Eclipse Day...

• A few partial eclipse photos through heavy clouds.  I saw a clouded partially eclipsed sun sporadically for a total of ~20 seconds (didn't need a filter in the heavy cloud!).  These turned out pretty nice.  I did not see any totality.
• Recorded a fixed-exposure time-lapse video of my "observing" site.  This too turned out pretty good.
• Recorded the temperature drop, light levels, and the Earth's 3-axis magnetic field (haven't studied the data yet).
• My private garden area was filled with beautiful songbirds that did not go silent during totality.
• Stayed at a wonderful hotel whose room backed onto a beautiful garden in a tourist town that been voted one of the most beautiful in Canada..., and it is.
• Experienced no traffic jams despite the Niagara Region declaring a State of Emergency owing to the expected one million people at the Falls.
• Discovered a new balcony-equipped room at my hotel's top floor that has a pretty good view of the sky and no direct night lighting.  The skies there may be Bortle 5 but that's much better than my apartment's equivalent Bortle 10 sky.

So no total eclipse photos or videos, but still had a good time.

 

After this life is over maybe I'll be re-incarnated and can try again in another life.

 

Clear skies to you all!

[rockethead26]

Second Mexico Report here from Mazatlan. On the beach with hundreds of others. Cleared down to high clouds before 1st contact. Outer corona lost but the naked eye visible prominence inner corona and Venus were spectacular. This was my 4th total. Crowd noise as totality approached was a wave from north to south along the 2 miles of beach where we were. After being alone with my wife for the 2017, this was an incredible experience despite the high clouds. Every single eclipse is different in some way. Just eyeballs, eclipse glasses and 8x40 and 10x50 binos with filters before and after totality and filterless during. We shared with some friendly folks around us who were completely amazed. Just a wonderful time!

[Mike Q]

South of Norwalk, OH.
High thin cirrus for the whole afternoon but did not affect the view. The high clouds actually made the oncoming dark shadow more visible. 
The weather was a miracle, considering what it’s usually like here in Northern Ohio on April 8th!

I am an hour south of Norwalk, I was wondering if the clouds  made the shadow more visible. It was pretty obvious here.

[theopenn]

Jackman,Maine Perfect Skies 

[dghundt]

Caanan VT, near the Canada and NH border.  Perfectly clear skies with a great playground for kids.

I didn't bring my GEM and setup this eclipse.  Would have been nice for my own photos, but I'll enjoy yours without all the time and effort.  It was a lot of work in 2017, but rewarding.

 

We initially planned for TX, then changed to PA, at last minute drove to VT/NH area.  

Edited by dghundt, 12 April 2024 - 08:33 AM.

[Phillip Creed]

Went to Celina, Ohio.  High clouds but otherwise good conditions for everything but the outer corona.  Crazy-bright prominence looked like a ruby hanging off the bottom of the moon's silhouette.  Got 3min 49sec of totality and if anything it felt like it went quicker than it did in 2017 despite having another full minute.

The high clouds REALLY amplified the horizon glow during totality.  Vivid orange color and it seemed like the onset of darkness was VERY abrupt.

Clear Skies,

Phil

[bunyon]

Greenfield, Indiana - my impression is that the entire Indiana path was "good enough". A friend near Brookville reported completely clear sky.

[dizzydlz]

Watched from Cedar Falls Lodge near Petit Jean State Park Arkansas. Weather was perfect and clear and surprisingly not a lot of people in the area. High wispy clouds from the morning had blown away by C1.

[gkevinw]

Jackman, Maine - on the centerline. Perfectly clear.

[FourSpeed]

Brady Texas spectacular views!!   My original plan was to go to Ingram but that morning while getting there the weather was foggy with light rain. So, we decided to continue driving looking to an area west of the centerline and arrived at a Walmart area in Brady.  That was the spot. 

 

Although we only got 2min 5 secs of totality it was definitely worth all the extra driving. It was an amazing spectacle that I enjoyed with my wife and kids as well as all the people that were there.

 

Regards

 

Ray

Stonehenge II - Ingram / Kerrville TX.

 

Overcast pretty much throughout, with a few glimpses (a few seconds each in duration) periodically until a bit after C3 -- then nada...  Mostly a bust, imho...

 

 

Regards,

4

[thegiff]

Jackson Missouri, right next to Cape Girardeau, success, beautiful weather, thin cirrus and great people! Couldn’t ask for more.

[TomT_NJ]

Traveled to Leakey TX for the eclipse. Our group decided on eclipse morning to drive NE 100 miles to Mason and we were able to experience totality with some high clouds. Part of my group wanted to stop in Junction that had relatively clear skies at that time (10am) but fortunately we went further north.

Edited by TomT_NJ, 13 April 2024 - 11:34 AM.

[ub0423]

We traveled to Greenville, TX from California - about 30 min east of Dallas. 100% clouds in the morning. The cloud starts to thin out when the sun was 50% obstructed and we miraculously got clear patch of sky minutes before totality. I got 2mins of clear sky until the max eclipse. Then the thin clouds rolled in and out but did not impact the view much. My whole family did not disappoint. We stayed in the country side so not many people around, but heard people firing their guns at C2 and C3 stage of the eclipse.

[Alex Swartzinski]

Defiance Ohio,

 

My gamble paid off! I had considerably less totality near the edge, but the forecasts called for clear skies in this location. Being my first total eclipse, I was despite to mitigate cloud risk as much as possible! 

 

Approaching 3:00, the thin clouds started to burn off. Moments before totality, the sun was under clear skies which persisted until just before 3rd contact when a barely perceptible wisp passed overhead. 

 

During the diamond ring at the end of totality, the sun was back in a clear hole between whips. 

 

It couldn't have been timed any better! I saw great views of the outer corona streamers. 

Edited by Alex Swartzinski, 13 April 2024 - 12:33 PM.

[2001]

Poplar Bluff Missouri in the house! Great skies, not perfect, but I cannot complain.

 

16 hour drive for me, gambled and won.

[dissent]

Traveled to Spencer, Indiana. Some high thin clouds but the view was still spectacular!

[Dave Mitsky]

The weather forecasts were not very promising but attendees at the TSP 2024 Solar Eclipse and Star Party at Latham Springs, Texas, saw almost the entire eclipse.

[PeteM]

Grand Prairie, Texas (between Dallas and Fort Worth)...I will call a 95% success. There were clouds at times for the first half partial phases, but cleared out nearly 100% for totality, then it was back to dodging clouds here and there for the second half partial. I would call the cloud forecast models (specifically the Canadian, a success). So glad I booked the hotel up there with a week to go instead of Uvalde, Texas (SW of San Antonio). Thought I had the perfect "secret" spot scoped out at our hotel on the top deck of the parking ramp. But man that filled up like crazy with less than an hour to go. So glad I found a great parking spot with a outdoor power outlet to tap into before the hoards showed up.

[edwyun]

Went to Celina, Ohio.  High clouds but otherwise good conditions for everything but the outer corona.  Crazy-bright prominence looked like a ruby hanging off the bottom of the moon's silhouette.  Got 3min 49sec of totality and if anything it felt like it went quicker than it did in 2017 despite having another full minute.

The high clouds REALLY amplified the horizon glow during totality.  Vivid orange color and it seemed like the onset of darkness was VERY abrupt.

Clear Skies,

Phil

Small world.  We were at Windy Point Park in Celina, OH.  Found it by happenstance on the morning of the eclipse.  Months ago, we had booked a trip for Mazatlan, but cancelled Friday due to the forecasts there.  Changed plans to go to Plattsburgh NY or Niagara Falls, but then on Saturday decided to head further west.  Worked out well.  Got great views and images even with the broken high clouds.  Plus, not a lot of people (only 2 others with tripods) or traffic on the way back to our hotel.

Edited by edwyun, 13 April 2024 - 11:36 PM.

[RNSpeed]

Stonehenge II - Ingram / Kerrville TX.

 

Overcast pretty much throughout, with a few glimpses (a few seconds each in duration) periodically until a bit after C3 -- then nada...  Mostly a bust, imho...

 

 

Regards,

4

Oh wow  our initial planned viewing location was very close to Stonehenge II but glad decided to skip that plan and keep driving northwest 

 

Regards 

 

Ray

[6opuc9]

Another report from Aquilla, TX (Texas Star Party): Wasn't there for Friday (showed up on Saturday early afternoon), Saturday nite observing was a bust with very windy conditions, tho the first couple of hours were ok, even had a chance to spot comet Pons-Brooks north-west of Jupiter right after sunset. Sunday nite was a great night of observing all around, but the entire weekend going into Monday was weather suspense / drama - large storms were moving in Monday afternoon, with severe thunderstorms and even a tornado advisory at some point. For the eclipse, Monday was a mix of clouds and sun, but we really didn't know if it will pan out until it was happening. And it did, absolutely glorious! Had about 45 seconds of totality "stolen" by a corner of one low (fast moving) cloud, tho arguably it made it actually better with the view of totality blaring right through it. Absolutely breathtaking experience! Glad I took that chance and traveled halfway across the country to Texas Star Party! Tent camping under some trees right on the edge of observing field was awesome. The last evening of the event, after the eclipse and before the massive storms came, we got relocated to some cabin-style dorms at the base of the event site (which was booked from some youth summer camp) - saved me from flying back with wet camping gear. Very memorable trip!