Total Solar Eclipse, April 8, 2024

[mreaves]

6 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

You could stay at your house but totality will be in and out very fast.  By the time you say,  wow, wow,wow it will be lover. It will get dark but not the  nightime darkness to your north.  If it is a sunny day and if you can take (even a short drive north) as the difference of Barre and even Waterbury will be  huge!!  The good thing in your location is you can wait and see what the cloudiness looks like

Standing on the beach at Lake Willoughby would be cool. Smack dab in the middle of totality. 

[dendrite]

I may be the darkest despite 97% totality when you factor in the 100ft ceilings and drizzle. 

[radarman]

Just booked to Springfield OH and will proceed N from there.

Texas would be better but good luck to anyone trying to drive out to totality from the metroplex.  That's gonna be a sh*tshow to say the least.

[eyewall]

1 hour ago, radarman said:

Just booked to Springfield OH and will proceed N from there.

Texas would be better but good luck to anyone trying to drive out to totality from the metroplex.  That's gonna be a sh*tshow to say the least.

I am going to Killeen area for that reason.

[MarkO]

I'll be at Jay Peak snow or shine.

[DavisStraight]

I'm going to catch it one way or another, maybe if I leave at 6am and drive north, grab breakfast at some diner and put myself in position in the good zone, maybe I beat any traffic that day. I could always drive up the day before and sleep in my car.

[Brewbeer]

11 hours ago, DavisStraight said:

I'm going to catch it one way or another, maybe if I leave at 6am and drive north, grab breakfast at some diner and put myself in position in the good zone, maybe I beat any traffic that day. I could always drive up the day before and sleep in my car.

this is my plan as of right now.  head up I-91 to White River Junction, and then based on traffic, decide to head to Burlington via I-89 or continue up I-91 to Newport.

[Professional Lurker]

I know that it's a smart idea to anticipate traffic and get to where your going ASAP that day, but how bad is it really? Are we talking absolute gridlock on major highways even in rural areas?

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[Juliancolton]

2 minutes ago, Professional Lurker said:

I know that it's a smart idea to anticipate traffic and get to where your going ASAP that day, but how bad is it really? Are we talking absolute gridlock on major highways even in rural areas?

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Pretty much. I-81 was at a standstill through much of Virginia on my way to and from Greenville in 2017. I think most experts expect even higher travel rates for this one.

[Professional Lurker]

Pretty much. I-81 was at a standstill through much of Virginia on my way to and from Greenville in 2017. I think most experts expect even higher travel rates for this one.

Yeah looking at that now. ... Every Friday evening in winter traffic on my local highway is a shitshow of NY, CT, MA, and RI drivers headed north to ski country. Every Sunday it's the same as they go home. Everything I'm seeing now is that it's going to be 20x worse.

Here in New England, with every major metropolitan area South of totality, heading north will be impossible unless you get there by dawn the day of. Same with heading home.

... So if the weather in the northeast will be cloudy and I have to head west for what would normally be a 12hr drive, I need to make that call by Friday and be in the road Saturday morning for a Monday eclipse. Ugh.

We haven't seen anything like this in the northeast for 30 years. I think the average person will have no idea how bad traffic will be. Many will miss it stuck in traffic like Woodstock. Lol

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[DavisStraight]

3 hours ago, Professional Lurker said:

Yeah looking at that now. ... Every Friday evening in winter traffic on my local highway is a shitshow of NY, CT, MA, and RI drivers headed north to ski country. Every Sunday it's the same as they go home. Everything I'm seeing now is that it's going to be 20x worse.

Here in New England, with every major metropolitan area South of totality, heading north will be impossible unless you get there by dawn the day of. Same with heading home.

... So if the weather in the northeast will be cloudy and I have to head west for what would normally be a 12hr drive, I need to make that call by Friday and be in the road Saturday morning for a Monday eclipse. Ugh.

We haven't seen anything like this in the northeast for 30 years. I think the average person will have no idea how bad traffic will be. Many will miss it stuck in traffic like Woodstock. Lol

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I'm anticipating heavy traffic which is why I wanted to go up the day before and spend the night, since the eclipse is in the afternoon, I would stay that night too. Not only is everyone booked but they charged an arm and a leg. The only way around it is to leave very early that day and hopefully not everyone else gets the same idea. I might stay at my sisters in Maine and cut some time off for the early morning drive. It would really suck though if I spent a few hundred to stay a couple nights and it was totally cloudy. I guess I could try and chase it but that may be tough.

[DavisStraight]

The best places in the US to experience totality during the April 2024 solar eclipse (yahoo.com)

[tamarack]

12 hours ago, DavisStraight said:

The best places in the US to experience totality during the April 2024 solar eclipse (yahoo.com)

Nice that the "3 best places" for Maine are far from the Rangeley area.  Maybe that will temper the hordes heading that way.

[MarkO]

12 hours ago, DavisStraight said:

The best places in the US to experience totality during the April 2024 solar eclipse (yahoo.com)

Ahh crap, why did they have to mention Jay Peak? I might have to make alternate plans.

[CT Rain]

On 12/28/2023 at 8:17 PM, radarman said:

Just booked to Springfield OH and will proceed N from there.

Texas would be better but good luck to anyone trying to drive out to totality from the metroplex.  That's gonna be a sh*tshow to say the least.

Might as well just stay in Dallas, right? 

I'm flying into DFW on Sunday. 

[radarman]

17 minutes ago, CT Rain said:

Might as well just stay in Dallas, right? 

I'm flying into DFW on Sunday. 

April is an awesome time to be there that's for sure.  

[ORH_wxman]

41 minutes ago, CT Rain said:

Might as well just stay in Dallas, right? 

I'm flying into DFW on Sunday. 

Pretty much all of the I-35 corridor cities in TX will get totality. San Antonio/Austin/Waco/Dallas. Waco is right in the middle though so they’ll get it the longest. 

[CT Rain]

3 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Pretty much all of the I-35 corridor cities in TX will get totality. San Antonio/Austin/Waco/Dallas. Waco is right in the middle though so they’ll get it the longest. 

Yeah I debated heading out of the city but figured I might as well just stay there. Dallas gets it a bit longer than Fort Worth. 

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

On 12/30/2023 at 7:33 PM, ORH_wxman said:

Pretty much all of the I-35 corridor cities in TX will get totality. San Antonio/Austin/Waco/Dallas. Waco is right in the middle though so they’ll get it the longest. 

This kind of answered my question but I'd like clarification please.

I booked a room in Lake George NY for April 7-9, so I'll be less than an hour from the south edge of the path of totality. If I only drive to the southern edge is the 100% totality just seconds long then as opposed to right in the center where it will be 3-4 minutes?

 

[FlashFreeze]

I was in Murrells Inlet South Carolina for the 2017 eclipse and we had 99% totality which is nothing like complete totality, it was impressive but just down the road in Georgetown it was 100% total and the difference really is like night and day, if everything works out right I would like to be near San Antonio next year

[DavisStraight]

13 hours ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

This kind of answered my question but I'd like clarification please.

I booked a room in Lake George NY for April 7-9, so I'll be less than an hour from the south edge of the path of totality. If I only drive to the southern edge is the 100% totality just seconds long then as opposed to right in the center where it will be 3-4 minutes?

 

This article might explain it, if your close to the center, it's worth the drive.

Total solar eclipse 2024: Why it’s worth… | The Planetary Society

[DavisStraight]

13 hours ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

This kind of answered my question but I'd like clarification please.

I booked a room in Lake George NY for April 7-9, so I'll be less than an hour from the south edge of the path of totality. If I only drive to the southern edge is the 100% totality just seconds long then as opposed to right in the center where it will be 3-4 minutes?

 

Check this interactive map, just click on where you're staying and it will give you all kinds of info.

Eclipse Map - April 8, 2024 - NSO - National Solar Observatory

[NoCORH4L]

I was gonna stay at the cabin in rumney NH area starting Friday, then drive north up to near Newport VT or Pittsburg on the day-of, but now it sounds like it'll be a shit show? 

[mreaves]

So what do people do during an eclipse? I get driving to the area that gets longer totality but to experience that you don’t need to be anywhere specific, right? You could just be on some back dirt road or out standing in your yard. It just sounds like there shouldn’t be an issue finding someplace to pull off to the side of the road. I don’t know, maybe I’m underestimating the crowds that will be around?

[mcglups]

50 minutes ago, mreaves said:

So what do people do during an eclipse? I get driving to the area that gets longer totality but to experience that you don’t need to be anywhere specific, right? You could just be on some back dirt road or out standing in your yard. It just sounds like there shouldn’t be an issue finding someplace to pull off to the side of the road. I don’t know, maybe I’m underestimating the crowds that will be around?

I agree with your thoughts, the one thing that is sneaking up in interest is how local and state police are going to manage this event. For example, in Franconia Notch during leaf season the put out miles (literally miles) of orange cones every 3 meters that prevent people from pulling off the side of the road. Are people going to be able to pull off the side of the road on 26/145/3 in Coos County and just stay there for hours on end? Having just 1 car on the side of the road brings the average speed down quite a bit, to have mass amounts of car on the side of the road will turn these state highways into parking lots. The weather is the other wildcard, if somehow snow pack materializes, all the side roads, fire roads and construction access roads will be a sh%t show. --- It should be interesting to see how this evolves!

 

 

[NoCORH4L]

1 hour ago, mreaves said:

So what do people do during an eclipse? I get driving to the area that gets longer totality but to experience that you don’t need to be anywhere specific, right? You could just be on some back dirt road or out standing in your yard. It just sounds like there shouldn’t be an issue finding someplace to pull off to the side of the road. I don’t know, maybe I’m underestimating the crowds that will be around?

Yeah same question I have. I was planning on just pulling into a McDonald's and parking but I'm not sure. 

 

If it was summer I'd say some local farmers would just open up their hay field and charge $20 to park for the day, bring the grill and do an eclipse tailgate

[lurker]

Here's a taste of what the traffic will be like (from 2017):

 

[mreaves]

26 minutes ago, lurker said:

Here's a taste of what the traffic will be like (from 2017):

 

I guess standing on my lawn and only getting 2 minutes of totality it is then.

[dendrite]

4 hours ago, mreaves said:

I guess standing on my lawn and only getting 2 minutes of totality it is then.

I’m coming over

[wxeyeNH]

I'm  just catching up on some of these eclipse questions.

*IF*  it is looking like a sunny weather day it will be near impossible to get through Franconia Notch heading northbound and then southbound after the eclipse.  You will need to learn the backroads.  What I'm planning on doing is finding a home or business and offering some cash and asking to just park in their driveway.  I assume plenty of people will be friendly and will be looking to make a buck. 

I was near the centerline on the beach in Aruba when I saw my total eclipse.  It is not just watching the sun but looking around the sky towards the horizens and seeing the colors changing so fast.  The wall of blackness just came in like a wave of darkness.  If you travel and get under the patch of totality it is best to get as close to the centerline as possible.  Otherwise the part of the sky that is not under totality stays pretty bright so you won't see stars or get the full night time experience.