We experienced a slight darkening, but more like you might get on a humid day when rain is on the way. It wasn’t even quite like dusk. I had thought it would get darker, since we are in the 80% zone.
My office is on a campus with a well-known science museum. We had tons of people on the campus because of the museum, although many were just wandering around our grounds. There was a helicopter overhead from a local news station, because of the crowds - we stayed away from that area & had a great, unobstructed view of the sky.
My brother in Charleston got worried about the forecast and drove up to us in columbia. We had a very specific cloud over our neighborhood but drove 2 miles to our church where it was clear and watched on the lawn. Way cool.
We experienced totality with 7000 of our closest friends at the Nashville Zoo, including lots of excited kids. It was the most awesome sight we’ve ever seen. 360 degree sunset, a few stars, and the cheers as the diamond ring gave way to totality and we saw the corona. So glad we did this!
In Denver (93%) it was perfect viewing weather. I did think it would get darker but didn’t. I loved seeing the moon move around and we were labeling what it looked like - a crescent, a smile, a monkey ear, Pacman, the lenses the eye doctor uses, and an
Zero in Phoenix. Nothing happened, but I kinda don’t get the excitement anyway. The dark thing happens every day; it’s called night. You can stand on your patio at midnight and, hey, total eclipse.
In the 60% zone. Had a picnic lunch on the rocks oceanfront - beautiful cloudless day, seagulls and lobster boats. If you were clueless about the eclipse happening, you would have had no idea whatsoever. With the cardboard glasses you could see it but zero evidence otherwise which is just a great reminder of how powerful the sun’s energy is even at 40% power.
We’ll be a short distance away from 100% for 2024. My folks are in their 80s. I told them they need to stay healthy in mind and body so they’ll be around for me to drive them to view it.
My D worked the events today in her town so I can’t wait to hear her experience. Up here we had 87% but there was cloud cover so it was only noticeable with the glasses. It did get cooler. It was fun to see the sliver of sun with the glasses. I hope to be in D’s town in 2024, which is at the crossroads.
We drove 12 hours to my parent’s house north of Nashville. We had 2 min 35 seconds of totality. It was the coolest thing I think I have ever seen. Just beautiful! Everyone was impressed, even the teenagers who weren’t really looking forward to it. The drop in temperature was very nice.
We are already making plans for the next eclipse in 2024.
I’m in the same general geographic area as @kelsmom and I had the same general reaction - kind of underwhelmed. I liked the camaraderie but the experience was kind of meh. Maybe next time we’ll road-trip to an area of totality.
Last weekend H and I went camping at a dark skies campground to watch the Perseid meteor showers. Now THAT was amazing! Clear skies, tons of stars, the Milky Way, and lots of shooting stars. Some of them were so bright that they lit up the sky with green light.
Maybe I’m less of an eclipse person and more of a meteor girl.
My D sent me a cell phone photo of the screen on the back of her DSLR showing totality in Wyoming. The great eclipse road trip is a success. Made my day.
Other D said it was a nice view in Chicago with the sun just a sliver. Her school gave out glasses and had a viewing event.
I took S19 out of school and we watched from our ~65% coverage area at an event put on by the local astronomy club. My parents came too. Lots of sharing of glasses and camaraderie. Good times.
My D16 sent me a cell phone photo of the screen on the back of her DSLR showing totality in Wyoming. Road trip is a success. Made my day.
I had fun with a “solar filter” for my other dslr camera made from a solo cup, a piece of black paper, some tape, and a pair of eclipse glasses. It worked great. Took S19 out of school and watched from our ~65% coverage area at an event put on by the local astronomy club. My parents came too. Good times.
We live in the 99+% band but drove an hour north to enjoy totality. The weather was worrisome. We were chased inside for the hour before the eclipse and just as the eclipse was starting the rain stop and the clouds parted. The sun kept peeking in and out before totality but just as totality started we hit a lucky spot and it was clear. The 2.5 minutes of totality went by way too fast! Clouds returned within 5 minutes and we couldn’t see much after. It was awesome!
We were in Georgetown SC and enjoyed the total eclipse. It was cloudy, but we saw the entirety of the almost two minutes of totality. I was happy to see so many people getting excited about something positive.
I was happy to see that the Weather Channel was one of the most watched channels today - and NOT because of a major hurricane or some other natural disaster.
