Professional Lurker Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 So helpful, really appreciate the local knowledge! And great idea to look at sunny distant hills from within totality. We'll be on a tight schedule to get back to Boston by 8pm:yikes:, so I'm planning to stage on southbound direction (or just near an on-ramp) on I-91. And planning to just pull over on side of road (or even on southbound I-91) if necessary. I imagine I won't be the only one pulling over on the interstate.Back by 8pm Monday night? Fingers crossed for you. Not sure that can happen tbh.Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxsniss Posted April 2 Author Share Posted April 2 11 minutes ago, Professional Lurker said: Back by 8pm Monday night? Fingers crossed for you. Not sure that can happen tbh. Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk Yeah I'm nervous about that too, but YOLO rules very much apply lol I figure adding 1.5 hours to normal drive time would make it. Obviously will also fill up on gas and stage southbound before eclipse. I was in Gallatin TN north of Nashville for 2017, easily one of the most breathtaking things I've ever seen... traffic heading back to airport wasn't that bad actually. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Yeah I'm nervous about that too, but YOLO rules very much apply lol I figure adding 1.5 hours to normal drive time would make it. Obviously will also fill up on gas and stage southbound before eclipse. I was in Gallatin TN north of Nashville for 2017, easily one of the most breathtaking things I've ever seen... traffic heading back to airport wasn't that bad actually. Nice.My plans are starting to narrow, but still very much up in the air. I'll go anywhere from Houlton to the OH/IN border, but looks better here.If I had to make a decision right now, I probably wouldn't venture too far off 91 myself. Kinda partial to Magog, QC at the moment. I like Magog Bay Park, facing SW on the beach, overlooking the lake.Also would love to be on the Canadian side of Niagara falls, but that'll be a complete shit show.Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jebman Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 On 3/28/2024 at 9:21 AM, dryslot said: Some folks somewhere will be in for disappointment TBD. That'd be me. Lots clouds forecast along with rain. NE is on track sunshine wispy cirrus and nice weather. Enjoy the eclipse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jebman Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 On 3/28/2024 at 12:35 AM, ice1972 said: You sure about that chief? No I am NOT sure at all. Yeah Ice I concede. You are right. It will be thick clouds and good chance rain. For four days lmfao. Thick clouds with rain. Day before the eclipse, day of the eclipse and for two days after the eclipse. Talk about BAD LUCK!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 2 hours ago, Jebman said: That'd be me. Lots clouds forecast along with rain. NE is on track sunshine wispy cirrus and nice weather. Enjoy the eclipse. Still not convinced but I'm chuckling b/c a member of my family will be joining their cousins in Hill county for the eclipse while I'm planning to be in NW Maine on a mountain and as of right now, I'll have the better show! Not what we were expecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisrotary12 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 On a personal note: these two eclipses could not have been more poorly timed for me. 2017: just married and broke as hell 2024: baby #1, broke as hell and new job. guess I’ll have to travel the world for the next one. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCORH4L Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 On 3/29/2024 at 11:55 PM, mreaves said: I guess I just want to make sure I experience totality. That was my first thought but then I started looking closely and noticed how close I was. Think Island Pond/Brighton will be busy? Staying at the camp which is a 2 hour drive to there, but I don't want to deal with 93 and the notch, then a slog up to Colebrook. I have a feeling that's where everyone in MA is heading. @wxeyeNH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreaves Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 48 minutes ago, NoCORH4L said: Think Island Pond/Brighton will be busy? Staying at the camp which is a 2 hour drive to there, but I don't want to deal with 93 and the notch, then a slog up to Colebrook. I have a feeling that's where everyone in MA is heading. @wxeyeNH I think it will be busy. The town isn't very big. There are a couple of hotels and restaurants in town but not a lot else. I think the best place to be might be the State Park and beach on the other side of the lake or the airport. I've circled both in red below. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiitsjenna Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Can someone give me their thoughts on this plan - it's super last minute. My husband and I were considering letting the kids ditch school and having an adventure but we are concerned about the traffic, etc. so I've been given free reign to head out Sunday on my own to get into totality. Monday happens to be my birthday and, for personal reasons, I really need to witness something awe inspiring at the moment. So I'm thinking of this:- Driving up from Boston to North Conway on Sunday afternoon (renting a last minute hotel for the night, plenty available there right now).- From Conway, I'm about an hour and a half away from St. Johnsbury or could even drive further into northern NH on Monday morning.- After the eclipse, I would shoot back to Conway and travel home down 16 to 95 back to Boston.There is also the option to stay overnight again in Conway Monday night, if traffic is looking horrendous. I do need to be back in Boston by 1:00 PM on Tuesday.My goal would be to position myself somewhere that I could quickly get on the road back to Conway before any mad rush. Any suggestions would be very appreciated!Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klw Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 BTV discussion this morning: https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=BTV&issuedby=BTV&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1 We know everyone wants to know what the forecast is going to be on Monday. Drum roll please. The forecast for Monday is looking spectacular across the North Country. A strong upper level ridge is slated to move across New England Sunday night with surface high pressure not far behind. With deep layer ridging building on Monday, we should see strong subsidence in the mid to upper levels which is typically tied to drier and more stable conditions. This upcoming ridge will be no exception. Model soundings are beginning to show a plethora of dry air in the mid levels Monday afternoon. We will still likely see a few fair weather cumulus clouds as we should have a weak layer of lift in the low levels but these clouds will likely have limited vertical extent given the subsidence aloft. This should make for great viewing conditions as mostly clear skies are now in the forecast around eclipse time. Dry weather is expected to continue into Tuesday before clouds and precipitation chances begin to increase late Tuesday as another low pressure system tracks toward the Northeast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 43 minutes ago, hiitsjenna said: Can someone give me their thoughts on this plan - it's super last minute. My husband and I were considering letting the kids ditch school and having an adventure but we are concerned about the traffic, etc. so I've been given free reign to head out Sunday on my own to get into totality. Monday happens to be my birthday and, for personal reasons, I really need to witness something awe inspiring at the moment. So I'm thinking of this: - Driving up from Boston to North Conway on Sunday afternoon (renting a last minute hotel for the night, plenty available there right now). - From Conway, I'm about an hour and a half away from St. Johnsbury or could even drive further into northern NH on Monday morning. - After the eclipse, I would shoot back to Conway and travel home down 16 to 95 back to Boston. There is also the option to stay overnight again in Conway Monday night, if traffic is looking horrendous. I do need to be back in Boston by 1:00 PM on Tuesday. My goal would be to position myself somewhere that I could quickly get on the road back to Conway before any mad rush. Any suggestions would be very appreciated! Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk The weather in Northern New England is looking to be some of the best in from Mexico up through the US. An eclipse like this in New New England has never happened in the modern era. So there is so much guess work as to the traffic and how many people will come up to view. Personally, I think the traffic is going to be a diaster. From Conway you don't want to go to Vermont. Take 16 north to Milan. If you drive perhaps 10 miles further north you will be in totality for over 1 minute. Remember there will be no facilites, no bathrooms, limited cell service and gas. Also a lot of snow and mud off of pavement. With all this in mind our travel to Aruba in 1998 was so worth it to see a total eclipse. Just mind blowing good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreaves Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 1 hour ago, mreaves said: I think it will be busy. The town isn't very big. There are a couple of hotels and restaurants in town but not a lot else. I think the best place to be might be the State Park and beach on the other side of the lake or the airport. I've circled both in red below. I circled the wrong spot for the airport. Corrected below. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiitsjenna Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 @wxeyeNH thank you so much for this detailed response! Quick question: you mentioned Milan, NH. It doesn't look like Milan is in totality. Do you have any town suggestions within or just keep going North?I would like to position myself in a spot where I can quickly get going south bound. I'm resigned to the traffic and ready to deal with whatever I need to in order to experience this once in a lifetime event.Thank you!Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcglups Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Milan will be 100% for minute but I really feel like traffic heading south will be a sh$t show. The bottle neck at bow with 89 and 93 merging will likely be backed up tens of miles for hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiitsjenna Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 @mcglups Thank you for the insight. I'm personally planning to do Route 16 to I95 and avoid 93 altogether. I'm not sure it will be any better but that's my thought..Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 50 minutes ago, hiitsjenna said: @wxeyeNH thank you so much for this detailed response! Quick question: you mentioned Milan, NH. It doesn't look like Milan is in totality. Do you have any town suggestions within or just keep going North? I would like to position myself in a spot where I can quickly get going south bound. I'm resigned to the traffic and ready to deal with whatever I need to in order to experience this once in a lifetime event. Thank you! Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk This is where I would go if staying in Conway. Like others have said the traffic could be crazy. I don't think the State of NH is prepared but we will see. Yellow is totality but you want to get at least 5 to 10 miles further north If you are right on the line it only lasts for seconds. Yellow glob would be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCORH4L Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 1 hour ago, mreaves said: I circled the wrong spot for the airport. Corrected below. Thanks. Yeah I was hoping the airport had a big paved area, but it looks like grass. Will have 2 dogs with us, so kind of want an area not right down town. I'm wondering if random people and parking lots will have like "eclipse parking $10", just get up there early and grill and chill until the event Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klw Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Vermont going as far as closing the courts in the northern half of the state for the day. I assume most court offices will follow suit. No they aren't closing Thursday for the storm. https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/news/public-notice-regarding-courthouse-schedules-april-8 April 01, 2024 Public Notice Regarding Courthouse Schedules on April 8 Due to the upcoming solar eclipse event with anticipated road closures and high traffic volume, courthouse schedules will vary by location on April 8. Courthouses in the following counties in the northern part of the state will be physically closed to the public on April 8: Chittenden; Franklin; Grand Isle; Lamoille; Orleans; Caledonia; Essex and Washington. Persons wishing to apply for a relief from abuse order in those counties on April 8 during regular courthouse hours may call 1-800-540-9990. Courthouses in the remaining counties will be open to the public on April 8 (except between 3:15 - 3:45 pm when all courts will be closed): Addison; Orange, Windsor, Rutland, Bennington and Windham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcglups Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 24 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said: This is where I would go if staying in Conway. Like others have said the traffic could be crazy. I don't think the State of NH is prepared but we will see. Yellow is totality but you want to get at least 5 to 10 miles further north If you are right on the line it only lasts for seconds. Yellow glob would be good. That could work in the area of pontoon reservoir heading into thirteen mile Woods but all side roads will be snow and mud. The biggest reality to embrace is average speed on any road with people pulling over will reduce by 50% or 80%. By 1pm I would think all roads will start to get filled with people pulling over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ariof Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 5 minutes ago, mcglups said: That could work in the area of pontoon reservoir heading into thirteen mile Woods but all side roads will be snow and mud. The biggest reality to embrace is average speed on any road with people pulling over will reduce by 50% or 80%. By 1pm I would think all roads will start to get filled with people pulling over. I think most people are, rightly or wrongly, going to a destination, not the side of the road. I mean people have booked rooms in totality for $1000, so I assume they have destinations chosen. (This is, of course, the wrong way to do it; it doesn't really matter where you are since you are looking at the sun; mountains nearby would be fun to be able to see them in the light when you're in the shadow, being on top of a mountain might let you watch the shadow as long as there's not any FG which is not a given this time of year. I would assume Mansfield will be mobbed, even with the trail conditions up there, which might actually be "microspikes".) In 2017 we wound up at random pullout near a lake in Southern Illinois. We got there about 45 minutes before totality and there were people parked along the road but no real traffic. If the storm hits far enough north and there's nowhere to pull off it won't help, but traffic will mostly all be going in the same direction at least so if people pull off there won't be too much trouble pulling into the other lane. Somewhere like Willoughby Gap might be fun to watch the shadow cross the mountains (there will be a split second when one side is in light and the other side in darkness), I guess? But the whole thing is, for the most part, the cool stuff is going on up in the sky, so there's really no need to be in a cool place to view it, the sky is the same. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxsniss Posted April 2 Author Share Posted April 2 55 minutes ago, ariof said: I think most people are, rightly or wrongly, going to a destination, not the side of the road. I mean people have booked rooms in totality for $1000, so I assume they have destinations chosen. (This is, of course, the wrong way to do it; it doesn't really matter where you are since you are looking at the sun; mountains nearby would be fun to be able to see them in the light when you're in the shadow, being on top of a mountain might let you watch the shadow as long as there's not any FG which is not a given this time of year. I would assume Mansfield will be mobbed, even with the trail conditions up there, which might actually be "microspikes".) In 2017 we wound up at random pullout near a lake in Southern Illinois. We got there about 45 minutes before totality and there were people parked along the road but no real traffic. If the storm hits far enough north and there's nowhere to pull off it won't help, but traffic will mostly all be going in the same direction at least so if people pull off there won't be too much trouble pulling into the other lane. Somewhere like Willoughby Gap might be fun to watch the shadow cross the mountains (there will be a split second when one side is in light and the other side in darkness), I guess? But the whole thing is, for the most part, the cool stuff is going on up in the sky, so there's really no need to be in a cool place to view it, the sky is the same. I will say based on my experience in Gallatin TN 2017 (crowd of thousands in large sports fields), hearing the wave of shrieks sweep across a crowd of thousands does add to the experience. If you can get to an event and have the time for a slow exit, it can be very memorable. But yeah if not committing to an event: I'm hoping to pull over southbound I-91 or at least stage minutes from the highway. Hoping that won't be policed for the 3.5 minutes of totality and 30 min before, as I imagine many many will be doing the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klw Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 If looking for an interesting place to watch, there is a viewing party at the Northern Skies Observatory in Peacham. https://www.facebook.com/events/2558212521019104/?ref=newsfeed Quote Event by Northeast Kingdom Astronomy Foundation Northern Skies Observatory Duration: 3 hr Public · Anyone on or off Facebook Due to popular demand, the Northeast Kingdom Astronomy Foundation has decided to host a solar eclipse watch party at the Northern Skies in Peacham, VT! We'll have 1 minute of totality, so if you're in the Peacham area, feel free to join us - even if it's cloudy! We will have SAFE telescopes and solar eclipse glasses for a small donation! Check this NKAF Facebook page for late news! Thanks! See less Peacham, Vermont Here is info on the site/group: https://www.nkaf.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prismshine Productions Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 If looking for an interesting place to watch, there is a viewing party at the Northern Skies Observatory in Peacham.https://www.facebook.com/events/2558212521019104/?ref=newsfeed Event by Northeast Kingdom Astronomy Foundation Northern Skies Observatory Duration: 3 hr Public · Anyone on or off Facebook Due to popular demand, the Northeast Kingdom Astronomy Foundation has decided to host a solar eclipse watch party at the Northern Skies in Peacham, VT! We'll have 1 minute of totality, so if you're in the Peacham area, feel free to join us - even if it's cloudy! We will have SAFE telescopes and solar eclipse glasses for a small donation! Check this NKAF Facebook page for late news! Thanks! See less Peacham, Vermont Here is info on the site/group: https://www.nkaf.org/ I am heading to St. Albans, 3 mins 27 seconds of totalitySent from my SM-S146VL using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunafish Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 3 hours ago, hiitsjenna said: @mcglups Thank you for the insight. I'm personally planning to do Route 16 to I95 and avoid 93 altogether. I'm not sure it will be any better but that's my thought.. Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk You might be better off taking 302 over into Maine and picking up 95 there. Rationale being there could be less people heading south that way vs. 16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saguaro Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 My original plans for Texas aren't looking good. Have backup plans for Maine, tip of NH or Quebec, will lose a minute of totality but that seems the best bet currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 1 minute ago, Saguaro said: My original plans for Texas aren't looking good. Have backup plans for Maine, tip of NH or Quebec, will lose a minute of totality but that seems the best bet currently. 18Z GFS cloud parameter says New England is the place to be! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxWatcher007 Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 Coming from CT, going straight north on 91 to a place like Newport seems like it’d work but there could be gridlock trying to get back south. Other option might be western Maine though as I may have an opportunity to stay in Portland. If that’s the case, any worthwhile spots? Little hesitant about the road network out there lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Wizard Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 I was supposed to go to Texas for this but decided to pull the plug and stick to New England. Aiming for Maine since I think the eastern side of the blocking ridge has the best odds of surviving any last second trends. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPcantmeasuresnow Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 3 hours ago, wxeyeNH said: 18Z GFS cloud parameter says New England is the place to be! Or almost anywhere in the vast north country of New York, which is where I'll be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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