Solar eclipse chasers beginning to worry about cloudy forecast
With less than a week before a total solar eclipse traces its shadow across the nation, scientists, amateur astronomers and wayfaring mystics are feverishly watching the forecast, hoping the rare celestial event isn’t a bust.
But on the West Coast, where the eclipse will come into view Monday morning, forecasters are starting to see some bad omens.
Early computer models suggest cloudy skies are likely along the coast, from the path of totality, where the moon will pass entirely in front of the sun, in Oregon to the Bay Area, where the moon will cover about 75 percent of the sun.
“We will have some clouds around,” said Matthew Cullen, a meteorologist with National Weather Service’s Portland, Ore., office. “In the Pacific Northwest, we see morning clouds that burn off, but just how many clouds, where they will be, and how long they stick around — those are the big questions we have.”
Even if there are clouds, the eclipse will still produce an eerie daytime darkness that will be less noticeable farther from the path of total coverage.
The total eclipse’s path will run across the contiguous United States from Oregon to South Carolina, with points to the north and south experiencing various levels of partial eclipse. The event marks the first coastto-coast total solar eclipse since 1918 and the first to touch any part of the lower 48 states since 1979.
With Oregon offering the West Coast’s best viewing, up to 1 million people — many from California — are expected to converge there by the roughly 10:15 a.m. start time. Eclipse tourism has already been a boon to the state’s economy, and hotels up and down the coast are at or near capacity.
Some of Oregon’s eclipse chasers aren’t taking any chances on the possibility of clouds and are heading inland to towns like Madras, Mitchell or Prairie City, where clear skies are forecast.
The best spots in the Bay Area, should there be cloud cover, will likely be the inland East Bay valleys or on peaks like Mount Tamalpais, Mount Hamilton or Mount Diablo.
A last-minute scramble for higher ground in California could cause serious traffic problems around the peaks and on roads heading east. The highway patrol is urging drivers to be patient.
Transportation officials in Oregon are already planning for major traffic problems. If the clouds don’t burn off and everyone on the Oregon coast suddenly breaks for high ground, the congestion would only worsen.
“People are watching the weather keenly right now,” said Lorna Davis, director of the chamber of commerce in Newport, Ore., on the Pacific coast about 80 miles southwest of Portland. “It can change day to day or even hour to hour. That’s the nature of the coast weather.”
The good news is there are no major storms forecast for Monday. A cloudy coast in August is typical weather for Oregon — just like San Francisco’s famous “Fogust.”
What’s more, clouds are no certainty. Forecasting storms is challenging enough one week out. Predicting what clouds will look like seven days in advance is even tougher.
“The forecast will likely change as the models come into agreement,” Cullen said. “In the meantime, what we know now is we are not seeing any signs of heavy rain.”
If Monday’s eclipse gets clouded out, the next total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be in 2024.