Total Solar Eclipse

[nrgjeff]

Central / West enjoys the best climatology of the totality track. Maybe should have started this thread months ago but we were tracking storms. 

KCMO base is our back-up plan. Note I am writing from East Tennessee. Concerns are noted for eastern Missouri through Illinois, but they are talking about that in the Lakes OV sub.

Main question for KCMO west into Kansas and Nebraska is mid-high level clouds. MCS on models has correctly trended toward night/morning climo. Plus it may be well north of the totality track. However mid-upper level clouds may remain and/or blow over KCMO and surrounding areas. GFS clears out all the junk well. Euro keeps more of it, plus adds new high clouds from Kansas/Nebraska with modest west flow at the upper levels. I was going to say just go west if an MCS is departing, but those Euro high clouds are a concern.

The good news is that 500 mb heights should be gradually rising into Monday. GFS definitely has it. Euro has it somewhat but not as robust, plus those high clouds. The 500 level is more reliable farther out than other levels. The rising heights in theory would check Cu growth. Then deeper partial eclipse stages Cu should decrease up to 30% thanks to reduced solar insolation. Works only on Cu and best if Cu is small. Wish mid-levels were a little drier. In addition to the 500 heights, a departing MCS should cause local subsidence in its wake.

Key to the KCMO and surrounding area is figuring out these new mid-high clouds coming out of Kansas and Nebraska. I'm less worried about MCS debris because one can reposition. If the mid-high cloud issue resolves, Cu concern is lower for the area after partial stages do their handywork.

[Chinook]

GFS is indicating quite a bit of 700-500mb humidity near northeast Kansas/southeast Nebraska, with possibly some rain. Canadian model also has some rain showers in IA/NE/KS/MO for 18z to 00z monday

[WhiteoutWX]

I'll be targeting Nebraska. My current thinking is chances for rain/clouds seem higher in eastern and southeastern parts of the state which is unfortunately where I was initially targeting (the closest drive from Oklahoma). I was hoping to stay south of I-80 but if morning clouds/rain look to be a problem I may target as far N/W as Grand Island. I have no reservations so if it looks really bad in Nebraska Sunday night/early Monday I may just bail altogether. I'm not going to deal with traffic nightmare/longer drive if I would have to go through KC area or further east. 

[nrgjeff]

Believe a lot of the cloud cover forecasts northwest of KC into southeast Nebraska are related to a morning MCS which may be north. Those clouds could always go away faster if the MCS behaves favorably. Otherwise, yes it is a concern.

Another option is far western Nebraska or Wyoming.  Maybe some upslop risk, but I would think later in the afternoon. Goal is squeeze in the eclipse between morning clouds and afternoon convection. Sounds tricky, but the eclipse occurs at a diurnally friendly time of day.

Central Nebraska has risks from both, so a first glance does not sound great. On the other hand, it might be favorably in between both. I still think the Nebraska target can be saved. Good luck!

[nrgjeff]

Far western Nebraska still has a chance to clear out in the morning as the overnight short-wave moves east. Afternoon upslop should be after the eclipse, especially with the shadow slowing down Cu.

Central Nebraska is starting to look pretty cloudy, but anything can still happen. I kind of favor the ends of the state.

KCMO looks rough on the models. However still a chance KCMO threads the needle between morning MCS departing and high clouds streaming from the southwest. Good luck to all wherever you stake out!

[mayjawintastawm]

We're committed to NE, on our way from CO to drop off my daughter at college later in the week farther East. Will be in McCook Monday AM (closest hotel room I could find 2 weeks ago), get up early and go north or east depending on how clouds are looking. That is, as long as traffic permits... we'll avoid I-80 as much as possible. Thanks to the kids for being enthusiastic!

[Chinook]

Kansas City looks particularly bad on the 18z GFS and NAM, with 2.20" of precipitable water, almost guaranteeing clouds of some type. That's kind of discouraging. There's a lot of people who won't see the eclipse clearly. By the way, I heard that huge crowds of west coasters are planning to head to Salem Oregon, which may not have enough public restrooms for that many people.  It's possible that cell phone comm towers may be maxed out in areas with so many extra people. Traffic jams are never fun, either.

[mayjawintastawm]

Just north of Kearney, NE right now. Mostly sunny. Thick cirrus to the south seems to be holding off. Thanks to NWS Hastings for the last minute info!! Looking forward to it.

[Chinook]

Apparently the College of Dupage color scheme ran out of black enough colors for a total eclipse, and substituted white. Here we are at 1747z (11:47 Mountain)

 

[raindancewx]

Albuquerque photographer posted this on Twitter. Some clouds in the city during the eclipse, but still visible.

 

[Chinook]

Solar radiation was lacking.

I will post some personal pics of the eclipse later. I went to Wyoming. I did not get an excellent photo of the diamond ring effect, but I saw it.

[Roger Smith]

Had an outstanding view at Baker City, OR where temp fell from near 80 at 9:50 a.m. to 58 at 10:23 then back up towards 90 by noon. This is the view of darkness approaching from the west (our pictures of totality suck, but we have the memories). Probably the most surprising aspect is how rapidly it gets dark in the last few seconds then you're almost instantly able to see the diamond ring effect. A large crowd (five thousand people in that park) reacts like they were at a sporting event. 

 

[Hoosier]

44 minutes ago, Roger Smith said:

Had an outstanding view at Baker City, OR where temp fell from near 80 at 9:50 a.m. to 58 at 10:23 then back up towards 90 by noon. This is the view of darkness approaching from the west (our pictures of totality suck, but we have the memories). Probably the most surprising aspect is how rapidly it gets dark in the last few seconds then you're almost instantly able to see the diamond ring effect. A large crowd (five thousand people in that park) reacts like they were at a sporting event. 

 

Nice memories.  Agree about the rapid onset of darkness in the final seconds.  I kept glancing at the time on my cell phone and couldn't believe how much light was still around (though it was that weird, dim look) just a minute or two before totality.

[Roger Smith]

I took this picture (looking SSE) about a minute before totality. It was like late on a January afternoon before sunset. Already quite a chill and birds calling, crowd getting restless. Then suddenly, boom, it's dark and you can look without the glasses. We found an overhanging roof of the local musuem where we could see the last 30 seconds unaided just by blocking out the crescent of sun, got to see the moon as a pale white disc against a purple sky, some corona beginning to show even then. 

 

[bdgwx]

The diamond ring effect was really cool. I took my glasses off for that. It looks exactly like someone shining a spotlight at you. And yes, the descent into darkness was really rapid in the final minute. I was also amazed at how bright the corona was. It was like maybe 1 or 2 full moons. I was also amazed at how the cumulus just disintegrated. If it hadn't been for the gradual drop off of insolation we would have totally missed the view due to cloud cover. 

[DoctorZ]

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE CHASE ADVENTURE

On Monday, August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse crossed the middle of the United States of America from the NW to the SE. It was to be one of the biggest spectator events in American History, and I decided to be part of that history. After several months of indecision in 2016, I decided our family would make the trip to St. Joseph, MO, the closest town to our Twin Cities, MN, about a 6.5 hour drive. By the time I finally made up my mind all the hotels/motels within miles were booked up. The only thing left was camp grounds and then only the “roughing it” with a tent spots.

My wife, was an experienced camper, so I figured she’d pull us through. I invited my mom, to tag along even though she was just a month shy of her 87th birthday. She had never been camping in a tent before, so it surprised me when she agreed to go and cover most of our travel expenses! Also set to come along for the ride were our two boys, ages 11, and 9.

The big day finally arrived for us to leave and I had reserved the three days minimum at Ol’ MacDonald Camp Grounds in Savanna, MO.

On Sunday, August 20th, I rounded up my wife and kids; then stopped to get Grandma, and we were off. We had brought two tents, a big one for us, and a smaller one for my mom. We had also been forewarned by the news media to bring extra supplies of food, drink, and lighting, because local supermarkets had run low as well as gas stations and other merchandisers. Up to 7 Million people were gathering from across the USA to experience this event. Cell phones and Internet were overloaded, and law enforcement was overwhelmed. Roads were at a stand-still, and the National Guard had been called out in some spots.

I wasn’t worried. I took the Storm Chase Vehicle: my 2005 Turbo-Diesel Dodge RAM 3500 Extended Cab 1-Ton 4x4 pickup truck. I had extra enhancements like a 56 gallon fuel tank (900 mile range) Off Road Lights, Spot Lights, Utility Lights, Mars/Cap modified Ham Radios, CB Radio, GPS, Digital Police Scanner with Weather Alert, and DVD Player with digital TV reception for the kids. We didn’t need to rely on our Cell Phones for communication.

Since we drove down on Sunday, most of the traffic had thinned out. The drive wasn’t all that bad, although a little more congested than usual. We ended up arriving at the camp grounds after dark and no one was at the office to check us in. A lady was parked there in her car charging her Cell Phone. I walked up to ask her help and she explained that the camp grounds had been inundated with people and the owners had become over-whelmed with it all and given up. Our reserved camp site we’d paid for in advance, had been taken. It was basically a free-for-all pitch your tent wherever you can situation! We drove around in the dark and finally found a couple of open spots in a remote location. There were other campers all around, and the guy next to us was still awake. He turned on his headlights and I used my spot light so we could see well enough to pitch our tents.

As my wife began to unpack everything it became apparent that we had forgotten to pack some of our stuff. One of those items was the tent stakes! We ended up finding the stakes for the smaller tent intended for Grandma, and used them to stake our big tent. This meant that all of us were going to have to sleep in the same tent--packed in like sardines. After about two hours of organization we were finally moved into our temporary dwelling. After tracking down a porta-potty in the dark, we all managed to get ready for bed and slip into a restless sleep for the night.

We were all awakened the next morning around 7am by a News helicopter flying overhead probably reporting on the over-whelming crowds filling the camp grounds around the area. Meanwhile, there was also a mesoscale convective complex of cluster thunderstorms forming all around us. I reasoned that we were not going to be able to view the total solar eclipse from our chosen location. I put my storm chasing skills to work and from studying a map of the eclipse path as well as weather charts, and listening to the weather forecast, I urged us all to hop in the truck and head about 200 miles east where it was sunny.

By 9:30am we were on the road again from our base camp attempting to make it to Fulton, MO, about 200 miles ESE of Kansas City on I-70. Hopefully we’d make it there before 1:06pm when the moon would completely block out the sun. We weren’t the only ones with this idea though; the Kansas City Metro area was not in the path of totality, and combined with the intensifying cluster thunderstorms, Eastbound I-70 was averaging about 15 MPH. After about 1.5 hours of stop and go on the freeway and pouring rain, I was ready to just give up and turn back for our tent when suddenly traffic started moving a little faster. We were up to 50 MPH! I decided to keep on truckin’ and see if we could out run the cloud cover. As I continued to drive east speeds increased and we were almost doing the speed limit now. About an hour later, the rain was well behind us and we could see blue skies about 10 miles to the south.

By 12:15pm, I had my wife looking on the map for a town to pull over in. We weren’t going to make it to Fulton, but we were in good shape to see the eclipse. Although there was still cloud cover it was hazy sun now. You could barely see shadows on the ground and if you looked up, you could see the shining ball of our nearest star overhead.

It was 12:45pm when we pulled off the freeway in the city of Columbia, MO. After unsuccessfully trying to find a park in which to set up our chairs, we pulled into a grocery store parking lot in downtown Columbia, to make our stand. The sun was fairly visible through high cloud cover with blue skies still about 10 miles south. I didn’t want to risk driving further south as it might take us out of the 70-mile wide swath of totality. There we sat with only a few other eclipse watchers scattered about the parking lot. We put our Eclipse Glasses on, and had a great view of the partial eclipse already in progress!

Just before totality the temperature started to drop, and a pleasant cool breeze picked up from the west. The hazy cloud cover started to dissipate and break apart, and it started to get noticeably darker. There was still too much haze to see any stars, but it was a very pleasant and peaceful experience.

When totality hit we had enough visibility to clearly see the sun’s corona glowing through the haze. People started shouting and cheering, and we heard fireworks going off all around the town. We took our glasses off and stared directly at the fully blocked out disk of the sun. It was a beautiful mesmerizing sight. Next we looked all around at the horizon. It was like dusk or dawn in a 360° circle all around; pretty pinks, oranges and reds. It wasn’t as dark as they said it would be, but more like it gets just before a severe thunderstorm. The street lights came on, but you could still see well enough to get around easily. The totality lasted for about 2.5 minutes and it was one of the most heavenly experiences I’ve ever had on this earth.

As the sun’s rays began to peek through again it got bright quickly and the temperature started rising fast. The sky also completely cleared out to a crystal blue. A guy came up and started talking with us about the experience. We were all in a good mood and felt it had been worth all the challenges.

Little did we know, our adventure was not yet over. Even though we left for camp about 1.5 hours after the event, the roads were just as jammed up as they were on our way out there. It got worse at each small town as droves of vehicles were backed up trying to get on I-70 back towards Kansas City.

We decided to pull off at the next town and have dinner hoping that traffic would thin some afterward. We used the GPS to look for some nice family sit down restaurants nearby. The closest one that came up was about 10 miles away, so we set our sights on a nice meal. When we finally arrived at the location in some really small hick town, the restaurant was CLOSED!

We had to back track another 10 miles to the freeway and found a dive pizza joint to eat at. While at the pizza joint the skies got dark again and a severe thunderstorm warning went out for the area. We waited out the storm and finished our meal, then headed off for camp again. We learned that a Flash Flood Watch had been issued for a large area of eastern Kansas, and northwestern Missouri, including our camp grounds, from 10pm that night until 10am the next morning.

Since we had paid for another night at the camp grounds, my wife wanted to stop at a Walmart in Kansas City and resupply our stock as well as buy a set of tent stakes so we could set up the second tent for Grandma and give everybody more room. With traffic flowing much better we made great time the rest of the way, but not without more severe thunderstorm warnings going out, and a Flash Flood Warning went out for parts of Kansas City. As we pulled into Walmart’s parking lot we could see really dark clouds in the direction of our camp site up in the St. Joe/Savanna area, and a lot of lightning.

I was monitoring the SkyWarn Repeater on the Ham Radio, and they were giving reports of a major rainfall event heading into the area from Topeka, KS. More of the sky was filling with dark clouds and lightning during the 45 minutes the wife was in Walmart. She came out just as the storm was entering the area and we got loaded up just in time.

No sooner had we gotten on the freeway towards our camp site than a Severe Thunderstorm Warning went out for the area we were in that included hail and torrential rains. The rain was falling so hard that people had pulled over with their four-ways on, my kids were scared, and a major accident had taken place on the other side of the freeway with cops everywhere. The Storm Chase Vehicle kept on and we managed to drive through it after about 15 miles of treacherous road. By the time we got to St. Joseph, 50 miles to the north, the roads were dry and the rest of the drive was uneventful.

The area we were in was still under a Flash Flood Watch, and it had also gotten completely dark. When we arrived back at camp no one was left. All the other tents were gone and almost all of the RV’s had moved on. With no one else around in the dark, my wife wasn’t about to try and set up the second tent, so we set out organizing our big tent better so we’d be more comfortable. The wife also swapped out the tent stakes with the better ones she’d bought to stabilize our dwelling better. We were all so exhausted we went to bed early, but kept getting awakened up by the Weather Alert Radio issuing Flash Flood warnings. It then started to rain hard at our location.

The storms came in three waves with the second one being the worst. It rained so hard that water flowed under our tent floor like a river, then the wind picked up. Between the rain and wind I was lying there awake wondering of the power lines we were camped under might fall, when the tent collapsed in on us! The wife and I both sprang up from our airbeds and pushed the tent back up off of us.

My wife went out in the pouring rain to secure the tent stakes again and then the Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Emergency for the Kansas City area. Nine inches of rain had fallen in some areas in just a few hours! We wondered if we were going to be swept away?

Miraculously we made it through the night and woke up to sunny skies. We spent the day visiting the Pony Express and Jesse James House, museums in St. Joe. When we got back to our tent to pack it up we found it collapsed again from the gusty winds that day. During the collapse some of the tent supports must have bent, because it took us much longer to pack up than it did to set up. It was nearly 9pm before we finally pulled out for the 6.5 hour drive back home.

We drove through the night. The wife and I kept switching as drivers to keep from falling asleep. Grandma and the kids slept most of the way, but not much for us. It was just shy of 5am when we dropped Grandma off at home, and everyone was heading into work as we traveled the last stretch of freeway towards our house, safe and sound at last....

 

 

[mayjawintastawm]

Great story. I could just about experience your fatigue and adrenaline!

Our saga was much easier and more straightforward, with really a perfect experience till the eclipse was over. Then we had to make it to Chicago Monday night, typically a 9 hour drive which turned into 13.5 hours due to traffic, a couple of really tragic serious accidents, and a little weather. At one point Google Maps had us and perhaps 100 others trekking through a farmer's field in Iowa on a dirt road around 9 PM. The very friendly farmer blocked it with his truck because there was a big mudhole (not on Google Maps) that had already claimed 1-2 cars! Go figure. Anyway, got to Chicago at 2:30 AM CT Tuesday, and resumed our trip, tired but exhilarated.

[DoctorZ]

From what I've heard after the fact it seems most of the perfect eclipse viewing was out west.  Trouble is going west usually involves driving great distances and there was the concern from wildfire smoke too.

 

[ice1972]

On 1/20/2018 at 12:29 PM, DoctorZ said:

From what I've heard after the fact it seems most of the perfect eclipse viewing was out west.  Trouble is going west usually involves driving great distances and there was the concern from wildfire smoke too.

 

Nah....plenty of ya got great views east of the Rockies....myself included in Missouri and several others in the SNE sub forum who tackled Tennessee....my kids little league coach successfully chased in South Carolina.....it was a great once in a lifetime experience 

[Roger Smith]

We don't do daytime cumulus out in the Pacific northwest in summer. If it's not raining, it's clear. We pretty much knew five days in advance we were "in the clear" and the wildfires were not a factor (in eastern Oregon anyway). 

Hey guess what -- April 8, 2024, total eclipse, path Texas to upstate New York and Quebec, early to mid-afternoon timing, up to 4.5 minutes of totality. Yeah, baby. 

[DoctorZ]

Some great places to view the eclipse, but I'm only interested in a days drive from home.  April 8, 2024 looks good in Indianapolis, but it's early enough in the year that there could be a big snow storm, or major tornado outbreak.  Take your pick.

 

[nrgjeff]

I think for 2024 we will book rooms in a few cities along the route. Cancel all but one 72 hours out. April will be a synoptic forecast in contrast to all that mesoscale action in August. April should be easier to forecast. We do not need a stationary front from Texas to Ohio to New England. Otherwise the weather will be good somewhere along the route.

[Roger Smith]

Where does it cross the 2017 path? Somebody's going to have two eclipses in less than seven years. Somewhere in e MO, s IL or w KY I presume? 

[DoctorZ]

Here is a map with all the information you'll need for the 2024 eclipse:

 

April 8th 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Map

[aggiegeog]

Should be great for me in E TX near Tyler.

[Hoosier]

On 3/7/2018 at 1:22 PM, Roger Smith said:

Where does it cross the 2017 path? Somebody's going to have two eclipses in less than seven years. Somewhere in e MO, s IL or w KY I presume? 

Yeah, here's a map showing the bounds for the 2017 and 2024 eclipses with the shaded area being the zone of intersection

[Hoosier]

On 3/6/2018 at 2:07 AM, ice1972 said:

Nah....plenty of ya got great views east of the Rockies....myself included in Missouri and several others in the SNE sub forum who tackled Tennessee....my kids little league coach successfully chased in South Carolina.....it was a great once in a lifetime experience 

I had perfect viewing southeast of Carbondale, IL.  I understand Carbondale itself had some cloud issues during a portion of the eclipse.  

Definitely want to see the one in 2024. Not sure where I will go.  Weather permitting, it's tempting to head to the same location I was at in August because of how rare it is to see 2 total eclipses in the same spot.  But who knows what life will bring... heck, maybe I won't even be living in the Midwest then.