Today’s weather will be nice, but it’s hard to guess where the clouds will be during this afternoon’s total solar eclipse.
“Kind of flip a coin for 3 p.m.,” Salix Iverson, a meteorologist in the Cleveland office of the National Weather Service, said Sunday evening. “It’s looking like 53% cloud cover.”
Ohio skies will begin to darken around 2 p.m. Totality will hit western Ohio about 3:10 p.m. and head northeast, reaching Cleveland by 3:15 p.m.
Totality will last nearly 4 minutes. The entire eclipse process will take about 3 hours.
The question for many remains: Will I be able to see the solar eclipse?
‘A race to see how quickly that cloud cover exits’
Overnight storms are expected to leave parts of Ohio this morning — those clouds will blow eastward.
“It’s going to be a race to see how quickly that cloud cover exits,” Iverson said. “For the most part, it looks like a lot of the low-level cloud cover will clear out, especially west of Interstate-77.”
The eastern third of Ohio will likely be too cloudy for the sun to be visible this afternoon.
Along the western third of the state, travelers near Interstate-75 should have a good view of the solar eclipse.
“Really, anywhere west of Interstate-71 is looking fairly good, especially with the low-level cloud cover clearing,” Iverson said.
‘You may see some filtered viewing conditions’
Meteorologists suspect the skies to be about half clear by lunchtime, but can’t predict exactly how fast the clouds will move.
“We may see some thin but not opaque upper-level clouds spread into the area from the southwest,” Iverson said. “These are going to be pretty high up and very thin clouds. These shouldn’t block the view, but you may see some filtered viewing conditions.”
Aside from the uncertainty of the clouds, today will be warm with a high of 69.
Even cloudy areas will experience complete darkness during totality, since the moon will block the sun’s rays.
During those 4 minutes of totality, the temperature could drop by about 10 degrees.
“We’ll have that dip happen with the the sun being covered by the shadow of the moon,” Iverson said. “We’re losing complete daytime heating from the sun.”
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Today’s eclipse could be partially blocked by cloud cover across Ohio
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
