Boston’s view of shady event to be ‘excellent’

Expect to see only 60 percent in Hub

Boston may only be getting roughly 60 percent of a solar eclipse today but worry not, bespectacled sun-gazers — there’ll be clear skies for viewing.

A “completely sunny” forecast in the Boston area will set the stage for the rare solar eclipse that’s expected to throw shade across much of the country, and to a lesser extent, our own region this afternoon.

“There will be a few little, wispy clouds, but from a weather standpoint, it will be excellent,” said Glenn Field, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton, which is forecasting temperatures in the 80s, slight winds out of the southwest and open skies.

“The weather will be completely sunny,” he said. “Chance of rain is 0 percent.”

People are advised to get proper eclipse-viewing glasses or devices — looking directly at the sun even in eclipse can damage the eyes.

Eclipse parties are in the works from Oregon to South Carolina — where the sun will be completely blotted out for minutes. Boston is expected to see more than 60 percent coverage of the eclipse, with the peak coming around 2:46 p.m.

Across the state, prime viewing time will range between 2:40 p.m., and 2:50 p.m., with the amount of coverage varying by a few percentage points.

From a national standpoint, the eclipse is being billed as a generational occurrence.

The moon hasn’t shaded the U.S. from the sun this much since 1918, the year the country last saw a coast-to-coast total eclipse.

All of North America will get at least a partial eclipse.

The last time the United States saw a total solar eclipse of any kind was in 1979, but even then, just a handful of Northwest states were plunged into total darkness.