Eclipse 2024 Was Almost a Disaster - Saved By Last Minute Change of Plans
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- čas přidán 13. 04. 2024
- I had planned to go to Texas for the solar eclipse, these plans were almost a year old, but, 10 days before the date the weather was clearly not going to cooperate. On Wednesday we made the decision to cancel the plans, and go somewhere else, a place which was in the middle of a snowstorm, but the weather predictions assured me would be clear - Montreal.
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I was going to Texas but canceled the night before the eclipse and went to Paragould Arkansas. Clear blue skies and I was so grateful.
The weather in that area of Arkansas was perfect - except the thunderstorms driving home the next day.
I couldn't go to Arkansas (I didn't realize the extent of the forecast until too late) but luckily conditions here in Dallas ended up way better than expected.
@@bird-war Wait, what? If you live in Texas, you can't leave? Explain how that works, please!
@@SolarWebsite nice catch, I've revised my phrasing
Arkansas was awesome. All the Californians didn't even think about going to the Ozarks, they all went to Texas, so it wasn't crowded at all.
The air traffic view from that few hours is fascinating. Glad some people got a view above the clouds!
I live in Buffalo and had planned on staying home, but when I woke up that morning and saw the clouds and storms here, I threw all my things in the car and raced as fast as I could towards Cleveland, fleeing West until I could see the Sun. I didn't know whether I was going to make it, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to try.
I'm so glad I did! I wound up running into clear skies ~50 miles shy of Cleveland with only an hour to spare, and found myself near Lake Erie Bluffs State Park just off of I-90. I got to catch it from the Southern shore of Lake Erie, on the edge of a gentle cliffside about 40 feet above the beach with a clear view of the Lake. I made a last minute purchase of high-powered binoculars at the next Walmart over before going to the park. It was so beautiful, I literally cried all the way thru totality. SO worth it 🥹
P.S. the pink solar prominences were BEAUTIFUL!!! I had friends in AR who said they didn't see it, but they were incredibly visible from where I was.
I was in Dunkirk right off lake Erie but the day of I booked it to cleveland. Spent my day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then watched the eclipse from right there. Was absolutely breathtaking
we stopped at a little town park in Bells TX ( we were heading farther east) , sometimes the spur of the moment decisions is the best -- just a nice group of people that we could talk too and just have fun without a big crowd
As a former Montrealer, our former cottage at Pike River was smack in the middle of the eclipse path, but fortunately, my buddy's cottage was near Sherbrook, QC which had 3.5 minutes of totality. We planned this months ahead and got our eclipse glasses in January to avoid the rush. As a space buff, my bookshelves are full of eclipse pictures, but nothing came close to the real thing. I had my camera set up, but so overwhelmed and not wishing to miss anything while fiddling with my camera's settings, I abandoned my camera for a pair of binoculars as no picture was ever going to come close to this majesty. I'm still in awe. It was worth the bumper-to-bumper traffic coming home to Ottawa.
*Montrealian
The city of bounty hunters... 👍😎
I also watched from Sherbrooke! I drove there from Chicago 😂
I was in that traffic with you coming back on the 10 to Montreal. Exited near Chambly (thanks Apple Maps) and took the Pont Jacques-Cartier bridge into Montreal.
We were just west of Richelieu River and not far from the Canada-US border.
@@AlanTheBeast100 We were able to get onto the 30 for the Ottawa leg of travel.
I live in Maine. Been planning this event since 2017, and the weather is NEVER clear here this time of year. We had 18 inches of snow two or three days before, but on the day of the eclipse, not a cloud in the sky. Amazing!
I hear that. Was definitely expecting rain just north in NB Canada with all that gross weather we had just had, but the whole day was almost perfectly clear.
Should have brought a thicker coat though. Was not expecting that much of a temperature drop during totality.
Hello fellow Mainer! We were so fortunate this year!
I was AMAZED that it was clear up here. Quite often it's full clouds for days, I felt bad for people who were traveling up, especially after the last snow storm, and amazingly it was crystal clear!
I was in Rangeley for it! It was absolutely gorgeous!
My cat sent his regards to his ancestors there. (He's mixed Maine Coon.)
Stuck with Texas (Sulphur Springs), and, just in time, the skies cooperated! It was amazing!
Oh wow, that's interesting to know. I was driving towards Sulphur Springs to be closer to totality, but on the way the skies were just getting more and more overcast, so I decided to turn around. I ended up in an old cemetery and though it was partly cloudy, there were plenty of open patches to view it. Didn't hear that it would have been fine if I'd continued on. Thanks!
Yes! I caught clear skies a couple miles west of Llano
Same here. Drove with the kids out from Arizona so we just weren’t going to cancel and uproot and drive another 12 hours to Arkansas.
Switched from Kerrville to Killeen. Public park with ample parking and lunch included plus tons of family activities for $40. The city did a bang up job of hosting everyone.
Partly cloudy with about half of the time for partiality being very visible (no clouds), and by sheer dumb luck the entirety of the totality was completely clear or very thin clouds, so thin you could still clearly see the corona and prominences.
In Dallas it cleared up just a few minutes before totality. Maybe because of the temperature drop?
It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen tho.
Same in Austin, TX, thickening clouds cleared at totality for great viewing. Think you are spot on it was caused by the cooling during totality, as the clouds started developing again soon thereafter.
Same in Ft Worth, was shocked we got clear skies at totality. So happy yall did too!
Was nw of Austin - same. We got a window of clear skies with only high altitude wispy clouds. Absolutely beautiful!
In Fort Worth Too. Was about to get so sad, but break in clouds at perfect time
@@OmegaSparky Up in Georgetown myself and had the same thing happen. Had kind of thick puffy clouds up to a few minutes before, then as it started getting dim the clouds evaporated and we got a wonderful view.
My brother was in Mexico on the pacific coast and they had great views.
We were going to Texas, almost did a last minute change and went to upstate NY, then decided to not change anything and stayed north of Dallas Texas. Beautiful day 80 degrees perfect view of the eclipse with no clouds at all blocking it, it was fantastic!
Same! Or rather, was in Ft Worth and was shocked the weather cooperated. 🎉
In retrospect, you made the wise decision. Probably saved yourself some $$.
We were going to upstate NY (Oswego) and at the last minute went to Ohio. I think they ended up having clouds, with a tiny peak here and there. I got almost 4 minutes of totality, and some sunburn.
Same! Dallas was a gift! All morning was cloudy and sad but it cleared completely last min!
Yeah many of the spots in Upstate NY wound up clouding over (Oswego, Syracuse, Watertown, etc.)
That's hillarious... I too had taken a trip to Texas and bailed up to Montreal once the clouds were predicted in TX. I ended up driving out to the eastern townships (including my mother's home town) and had a great, cloud-free, 3.5min totality of awesomeness. :)
Clouds parted to blue sky just before eclipse in Sulphur Springs TX , almost 4.5 minutes of totality was amazing.
Friend of mine and I drove from Toronto all the way to Sherbrooke, QB for the eclipse. Expecting major crowds and traffic we left at midnight and arrived shortly after 7 and set up in Jacques Cartier Park. Beautiful place and plently of open space. Joined a fellow astro-photographer and watched as the part slowly got more and more people. By ther time the eclipse began there were a fair number of telescopes and filtered cameras around us along with several just enjoying the event. All in all a great time and I got to see totality for the first time in my life.
Was strongly considering doing the same.. but the drive would just have been too much for a day trip. Ended up heading West instead!
I flew from Croatia with my wife to Texas for this, scrached head what to do with the clouds and on saturday decided and went to St Louis and saw it in Salem Illinois, used Uber driver payed him lunch to wait us out at Arby parking lot! Got in time to fly back to San Antonio! Crazy adventure!
one Uber driver took you from Texas to Illinois?
@@TheRealPlato I don't think that's what he was attempting to say. He could have easily gotten round-trip airplane tickets between San Antonio and St Louis...it isn't one of the more heavily traveled routes. That said, it probably wasn't cheap..., but given he'd already flown over from Croatia it was apparently worth it. I just had to drive a couple hours and then ski three more to be where I ended up for the "big show".
Now that's a cool vacation! You'll be telling people about it when you're a very old man!
We were in Fate, TX for the eclipse. It was really looking like there would be cloud cover all day, but at the last minutes the clouds cleared up and we enjoyed an amazing total eclipse.
You could say the fates aligned.
As a teacher near New Orleans, it broke my heart hearing how many students went to Texas just for clouds. I bailed on Texas and went to Missouri with my nephew for his first eclipse. Very grateful we got that narrow path of clear skies, and I'm so happy your family enjoyed the eclipse and Montreal!
I was so lucky because my grandparents' house in northeast Ohio was very close to the center of totality, so we had a family gathering planned for the event six months prior, but NE Ohio is traditionally overcast 365 days a year because of lake effect weather, but we lucked out and only had the very thinnest clouds! It was really surreal hearing the animals like the birds and spring peeper frogs react to it suddenly being dusk, and all the streetlights suddenly coming on in the middle of the day. It truly was an incredible experience!
Traveled from Nashville, TN, to St. Louis for the weekend, and then decided to just drive wherever we could on Monday. Almost zero traffic going into Marion, IL, outside of Carbondale (coincidentally driving through Nashville, IL in the process). Stopped at the Cracker Barrel, where the lot was only half full and got 100% clear skies. No crowds, good food, and an amazing experience...
Until the 10-hour drive back to Nashville on a route that is usually only about three.
Yikes 😬
My family and I were in 3 cars in that same unbelievable traffic! Kudos to the KY police. Did you notice they were everywhere, helping people who were broken down or whatever? I was very impressed.
@@beenaplumber8379 I did not because I was stupid enough to think taking two-lane backroads would be easier than dealing with the interstate traffic.
I did witness 61 Teslas stopped at a hotel that had seven charging stations that were working at 50% capacity. Drivers said each car had to wait close to two and a half hours each just to make it to a charger, then another hour to charge. I didn't feel so bad about my drive because my car made it the whole 13 hours with a quarter of a tank to spare, so it was worth it.
Oof; my brother got caught in that traffic too, missed his flight out of Nashville and had to stay there about 36 hours before finding a way home.
@@JeffGeerling I wanted to complain about it, but I once got stuck on an Amtrak train between Chicago and Toledo for nine hours longer than it was supposed to take. At least we could get out of car and walk around
I went to Kansas for the 2017 eclipse and the clouds ruined it. Was super exited that it would go over my house here in north Texas, but was really disappointed with the clouds rolling in before the eclipse. But then they cleared up and we got a hell of a show!
I can see why people travel around the world to see total solar eclipses. It's a completely different experience when you don't have heavy cloud cover.
Pictures can't convey the experience, can they? Hearing people try to describe the experience with their feeble words and metaphors... it sounds cool, but the experience is so beyond description. I'm so glad you got to see it!
I'm from the southshore of Montreal and that day I was working outside in just my t shirt. It was warm enough for me to break a sweat, but when the eclipse came I had to put on a sweater. The fact that 2 days before there was a snow storm, we could definitely feel the temperature drop.
Turns out it wasn't so bad in Texas after all. The clouds began to break up starting an hour or so ahead of the time.
My son and I photographed from just NE of Fort Worth. We were able to photograph all of the eclipse including the prominences. We had 2 minutes and 43 seconds of totality where we were at. Being able to see the shadow moving over clouds was incredible. He did most of the photography while I watched. This was my second, as I also went to Nebraska for the 2017 eclipse.
You always do great reviews.
As we say in Texas; y'all be safe.
Very glad that Scott was able to view the eclipse! Our eclipse experience was very similar to Scott's - we had originally planned to view the eclipse in Texas, but wound up in a small town about 70 miles (114 km) east of Montreal, right smack dab on the centerline of totality (duration: 3 min., 31 sec). The town of Ayer's Cliff in Quebec very graciously opened up their large fairgrounds for eclipse viewers. The weather was perfect, the clouds stayed away, it was a wonderful eclipse viewing experience!
My mum flew in from the UK to me here in Ottawa on the day of the snowstorm. Fetching her from Toronto wasn't supposed to be an adventure. Anyway, we enjoyed several days of snow sleet and rain, but Sunday was glorious and brought hope. We ended up just driving to the st Lawrence River and found a little riverside park with a few dozen other eclipse locals, and had an amazing time. The thin high clouds really didn't distract from the experience. Totally worth it
Went to Buffalo and had 2 perfect days before, but socked in on the 8th. After consulting the live cloud maps, we jumped on I-90 and went west as the clouds moved east. 115 miles later we found skies clear enough to see totality. An amazing experience!
Saw the eclipse from St. Thomas, Ontario, which is just north of Lake Erie. It was a beautiful day and beautifully clear sky during the eclipse. Totality was absolutely epic, and glad I saw it.
Canada’s view of the solar eclipse was fantastic. We enjoyed it from Sherbrooke QC and it was amazing. Great choice!
I was in Bromont, a few miles away. Absolutely spectacular!
I was nearby but on the line of totality.
We drove from California to Texas watching every weather forecast we could find. On the morning of the eclipse we were in Gatesville, on the centerline, but they had low thick clouds. So, based on how the clouds had behaved on previous days, we dashed 25 miles west to Hamilton and found a big area of blue sky. Our view was perfect!
I've been incredibly lucky twice now. Both recent total ecilpses passed an hour south of where I live. We got to see both without issue. Went to the same park and everything.
Such a breathtaking sight to behold. I'll be 52 for the next one and I'll have to go a fair bit further. But its so worth it
I was only 9 months old in 54, the first total UK ecpise of my life, so had to wait 45 years to see my first one (August 99). And, as the next one isn't until 2090, just short of my 136th birthday, I'll probably not be seeing another one...
But I am so glad I did get to see one. It was cloudy that day (of course!), but I watched it ftom the top of a hill in Devon, overlooking rhe sea - a truly spectacular viewpoint. And the clouds actually made the eclipse visible to the naked eye, so that was something special.
And from the top of the hill, we could see the line of darkness racing towards us, and then away again. And, as it neared totality, it all went quiet, a cool breeze stated up, and, as it went dark, the streetlight in the valleys below switched on - an amazing experience.
I have been married twice and seen the birth of five children, but (apologies to my wife and kids) nothing will ever be as memorable as that day.
If you've never seen a total eclipse, dont miss the next chance you get. Even if, like me, it involved no sleep the night before, as I drove hundreds of miles through the darkness, and being stuck in non-moving traffic in narrow country lanes for hours the next afternoon!
Just so ya know, the next two total eclipses are in 2026 and 2027, and both run through Spain. If ya ever wanted to visit, there’s as good a reason and time as any.
Or you could pay Australia a visit in 2028
@@mrb692 seriously considering at least the first two!
Like your avatar. СЛАВА УКРАЇНІ ! ГЕРОЯМ СЛАВА !
I was in Legoland Windsor for the 99 eclipse.
From the Netherlands but have family in the UK that we were visiting at that time.
I'm still slightly annoyed that my parents decided to go on holiday to France in 1999, so I've never got to see totality :(
I booked two different Texas campsites and canceled them both. Almost decided to drive to Northern New York then settled on Southern Illinois. The skies were fantastic.
Same! I went to St Louis and then to Salem!
I was in northern New York in the Adirondacks. We had the same high altitude clouds and it was beautiful. The 11h drive back to Long Island was not so beautiful, if there were a map of car traffic for that day 87 south would have looked like the small aircraft flight data but in slow motion and tracing the only main route south.
Northern New York was cloudy.
@@FTADaddio Google Maps was funny that day. It kept saying traffic was clear 50 miles ahead, but that's because the rush away from the path of totality hadn't arrived yet. It kept estimating our travel time at 7+ hours from IL to TN.
@@beenaplumber8379 I think all the extra people in usually more rural areas might have just overloaded specific cell towers with more traffic than they were ever designed for
I live in coastal Maine, and I rode with my friend John up to Northern Maine where John's buddy Ron lived. Ron took us to the home of an old man he knew named Gerald and he let us view the eclipse from his back porch. It was an amazing day and a great experience and it was made better by how cool of a guy Gerald is. He is about 88 years old and he is a helicopter pilot. He has 2 Bell 47s in his garage that he is working on rebuilding and he told us all kinds of stories about flying helicopters and working on them. I didn't have eclipse glasses, so I brought a pin hole viewer I made the day before out of a box I had from a few days earlier when my VKB STECS throttle I bought for flying in DSC came in. It was a good time. The day before the eclipse, I was in Eastern Pennsylvania visiting my friend Brian and going on a tour of the battleship USS New Jersey while it's in dry dock. It was a hell of a good 4 day weekend for me.
I live in Texas and we had mixed and broken clouds in the morning but it cleared just before totality started at our location on Lake Buchanan, right on the centerline of the path. The entire totality period was clear and then the clouds drifted back in during the phase out period afterwards. Great experience!
We were something like 300 employees on the roof of our buildings, watching the eclipse. Very happy we got a perfect view, the clouds rolled up right after. Glad to hear you had a great time in our fair city! Come back during the summer, we have tons of free activities and festivals.
We went to Cape Girardeau MO. Had perfect weather and were right on the centerline. The fog that morning on the drive up there was so thick I would only see 2-3 seconds in front of the car. But it all cleared out that morning and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. Over 4:10 totality duration.
Fantastic story! I was in Toronto which was just outside the zone of totality, but a cycle down to Burlington got me in the zone, and I saw totality as the skies opened up for us - an amazing experience!
We were in Toronto and drove to Burlington, Ontario. For most of the day, it looked as though the clouds would prevent us from seeing anything, but at the time of the eclipse there were only a few wispy clouds and we had a good view.
I was in Cape Girardeau Missouri. Perfect clear sky and over 4 minutes of totality. Was amazing!
I live in the eclipse path, a bit south of Greensburg, Indiana, but I traveled north to Shelbyville to get a better view. It had rained lightly that morning, but the eclipse time was almost perfectly clear, and wow, it was even better than the 2017 eclipse! And then that night, there was heavy rain and lightning. What a miracle in timing!
Went to Cape Girardeau Missouri for the eclipse, weather was beautiful and the sky completely clear save a little bit of extremely thin cirrus. Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
We were just west off Highway 60. It was a beautiful day.
We based out of Cape Girardeau on Sunday and on Monday set up right beside the city airport. At the last minute we bailed 20 miles west to escape a band of high clouds and got perfect clear skies for the full duration out between Advance and Arab MO... Unforgettable...
My wife and I went to Jackson a few miles north of Cape Girardeau. No cloud issues. It was awe inspiring. Actually saw the solar flare at around the six o’clock position with the naked eye. The traffic going home was a nightmare though.
@@Oldman5261 Wasn't it though? We were just north of you near Kincaid Lake, Shawnee Natl Forest. (I got amazing photos & vid! That was only one of a bunch of huge prominences.) It took us nearly 5 hours just to get out of the path of totality, 13 hours to Athens GA, normally would be 7-8 hours. (Kudos to the KY state police! They were very busy doing what they could.) Our traffic didn't loosen up till we hit TN.
The eclipse was a once in a lifetime event. So was the traffic. Awe can be found anywhere. 🙂
@@Oldman5261we went to Fruitland right by Jackson - apparently at the same spot Destin / Smarter Every Day chose!
We went to Lampasas, Texas to view the eclipse. Ended up parked behind a coffee shop with about three other small groups of people. Had intermittent clouds on the approach to totality. Then, just as totality hit, we got a break in the clouds and had nice clear views. We could hear cheers from a park down the road. This was my first total solar eclipse and now I'm totally hooked. The corona was much brighter than I expected. Certainly nothing like what I had seen in photographs. It is amazing to think that corona is always there, you just can't see it with your eyes due to the overwhelming luminosity of the sun.
My Aunt and Uncle were going to go to Texas. Then they saw the weather forecast and joined us in Indianapolis where we live. We had a PERFECT view of the Eclipse. It was the definition of the word AWESOME
Scott, first time I've commented on your content - we arranged with a specialist company to see the eclipse from Torreon in Mexico, but relocated at the last minute to nearer Durango in a small town with a baseball field. We just rocked up unannounced, then the police turned up and welcomed us to the town, the mayor contacted us and we ended up having a huge party with the locals watching a perfect view of the eclipse. They really appreciated watching this with a bunch of 100+ eclipse chasers with a huge variety of equipment! My totality photos, like yours were disappointing (the weight of the lens at high inclination caused it to slip it's focus), but I got to see so many phenomena that I've never seen before. Shadow bands, 360 degree sunset, pin sharp shadows, several MASSIVE promenances, pinhole views of partial phases, spelling out messages on the ground! Those who stayed in Torreon weren't disappointed, either, they got a clear view just around totality! I've seen the shadow come towards you back in 2002's in the Australian outback.
Happy to hear that you enjoyed your time in Montreal! 😊
You can see me and Scott in the same frame at 11:19.
Didn't have to travel anywhere! Skies cleared up for a perfect view of totality in Cleveland. Absolutely surreal and breathtaking experience.
Hi Scott. I don’t think I’ve ever written to your channel before. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your videos. It struck me, especially in this eclipse video just how positive your attitude is joyful you are. So pleasant you make it feel as though we’re sharing the experience with you. In this case, I was actually just outside of Cleveland in the center of the shadow of the eclipse. It was a short hour and 20 minute drive for me from the tip of West Virginia, I planned my drive to a little town called Orwell pull into a town park where there were a few dozen people from a few hours off there to enjoy the eclipse. I got to experience and it struck me that during the three minutes and 15 seconds of totality it was dark and around the entire circle of the horizon it was a beautiful red sunset color. I got to see the prominence that you spoke of. In fact, there were two prominences that I could notice with the naked eye. I remember to take my glasses because that was the big show. If I had not realized to takeoff the glasses during the three minutes and 15 seconds it would have been such a disaster. The experience was it felt like, being in a Science Fiction movie. Ring of light coming around the moon was pure white and came out in Reyes and the bright bright pinkish red the prominence with the beautiful pure white light from the sun that you don’t get to see was truly otherworldly. Thanks again for your wonderful videos. It’s always so fun to go through. What’s happening in space with you because you do just enough, talking to explain what needs to be known to enjoy it and you get through it quickly but with good detail. you give a good balance and you can’t beat that kind of attitude. There are so many eyas of space to have a positive personality and you’re definitely one of them. Thank you very much and I will continue to be subscribed and liking your videos.
You the man, Scott!!!
My wife and I saw the Total Eclipse in Sublimity, OR in 2017. Perfectly clear skies and it was absolutely amazing. We didnt see any prominence like they did with Everyday Astronaut, but nonetheless it was quite a sight to behold. Love yoir channel, keep it up!
I flew up to Niagara Falls to see the eclipse. The weather was sketchy all the way until the eclipse happened, and thankfully, where I was the clouds were thin enough to see the eclipse almost in its entirety. I'm glad I made the trip, it was 100% worth it.
Flew to Dallas and watched it from Mesquite. It was cloudy but the clouds parted in the exact right part of the sky ten minutes before totality and it was perfect. Loved it!
I went to Long Point in Ontario, along with thousands of other eclipse goers, and the view on the beach was absolutely amazing over Lake Erie. The lake is so big that it allowed us to see the horizon perfectly, so the "sunset" colours mixed with the eclipse over the water was absolutely at the top of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!
we ended up sticking in Texas, but drove up to Paris and just happened to have the clouds clear up like 10 minutes before totality. Definitely some of the more stressful cloud watching minutes of my life!
Correct me if I’m wrong but the the “star” near the sun was actually Venus
There was 2 planets visible. Venus was one of them. The other was Jupiter.
Yes, it was Venus and Jupiter
The eclipse was something, but getting in and out of St-Helen Island was epic. Glad you were at the old port and enjoyed our city :)
I watched the eclipse from just a little way up the river, in Cornwall ON. Same high clouds, and great view.
Things worked out well for me in northern Texas. Skies cleared up completely about 20 minutes before totality. Total overcast to clear blue skies in about 10 minutes, one of the fastest weather changes I've ever seen. Apparently the temperature drop from the eclipse can cause clouds to dissipate. I was very worried but glad it worked out.
We were stuck in Texas. We knew it was gonna be risky. I was checking forecasts the entire day before, and checking satellite feeds every 30 minutes on the day itself as we were driving out from Austin to find the most optimal location. We almost settled on Buchanon Lake, but decided to go to Waco TX instead. We definitely made the right choice!
Clouds were present during the early stages, but cleared up for the last 30 minutes before totality. We had nearly a complete unobstructed view for the main event. There were a few thin clouds, but they just barely grazed by, casting a very pretty rainbow sheen over the whole thing. Honestly, the clouds may have enhanced it a lot! I had no idea that an eclipse could be so colorful :D
Shout out to anyone else who settled in Pecan Bottom Park for this!
Yeah we had a similar experience and it sounds like people all across Texas did too. What luck!
I saw it from Carbondale, Illinois, where I was for the August '17 event as well. '17 was a bust, due to clouds, but this recent one was spectacular!
Had a hotel room reserved a year ago in Northern Pennsylvania, so we took our chances by Lake Erie. Clouds cleared literally at the last 5 minutes on the lawn of a winery and distillery. Fantastic view. Everybody had a great time.
We were planning to drive towards finger lakes from NJ, which is about 4hr drive to path totality. Seeing the forecast, we drive to Vermont instead, which is 6hr. So we spent 4hr more in the car + traffic jams.
Anyone who’s seen a totality before knows that it worths the effort.
Never expected to see naked-eye prominences--especially that BRILLIANT one at the 'bottom' of the eclipsed sun!
Went to Idabel, OK. Opening partial was a bit cloudy but it cleared up by the time totality hit and hoo boy that was an experience.
Same here. Been just south of Idabel on E2210.
I'm in Montreal, but I took the day off from work to take a bus further south to get three minutes of totality. A pity I didn't get to see you, but I had a great spot. It was amazing to see blue skies all around the horizon with darkness above.
As a DFW, TX resident, I wasn't sure until the morning of where we were going to drive to watch it. Cloud cover forecast changed for the better that morning, so we went to Midlothian, and it was perfect! If anything, for us also the few clouds we had actually improved the eclipse, as it let us see the partial eclipse leading up to totality without glasses on. All of totality was clear skies!
I feel SO bad for anyone who left their glasses on during totality. lol
I didn't make this one but I saw the 2017 eclipse and thankfully I read up enough on eclipses to know better.
Scott Manley again out there on the streets helping out random people to get a better astronomical experience 😂😂.
Kind regards, Willi. Fly safe!
I live in Dayton Ohio, we had clear skies here. Very happy about that.
Was planning on Texas but switched to Indiana 5 days before. We were clouded out at the last minute before totality in 2017, so it was totality or bust this time! The sky was perfectly clear in Romona, near Bloomington, Indiana. Brilliant red solar prominences were visible with the naked eye. A truly awe-inspiring experience.
Yeah, we went to Montreal too, but for us Montreal is local and we drove, we live about 2 hours away in Ottawa. We were also watching the cloud forecasts, and we had alternative destinations for the eclipse, smaller towns like Cornwall, Brockville, or Kingston. But in the end, it looked like Montreal had the best cloud cover conditions of all of them. Also we had relatives in Montreal, so we just set up our lawn chairs and camera tripods in a park in front of their house, no need for special locations with a solar eclipse, just setup wherever you got an open field. Hope you enjoyed Montreal.
I live in Ottawa (Barrhaven) as well!
@@stephengarrity9702 Cool, did you get to Montreal? It was only 99% full in Ottawa.
@@bbbl67 We drove to my buddy's cottage in Bromont, a stone-throw away from Sherbrooke, so we got three-and-a-half minutes of totality. I'm still in awe.
@@stephengarrity9702 We only had 90 seconds of totality, I feel it wasn't long enough.
I was down in southern ontario and we had those high level clouds too, was actually really cool watching the shadow of the eclipse come and go as we were on the shore of lake erie for the eclipse and had a full view of the unobstructed skyline
We saw the Moon's umbral shadow coming at us from the SW. It was on the horizon, dark and ominous, then it was HERE.
I was in Granite Shoals, TX for the eclipse, and we beat the clouds. They rolled in a little after 3rd contact, but we saw all of totality.
We went to Dallas and ended up having to stay there due to car troubles. Luckily, even though it was partly cloudy, they parted right before totality and we got a full view.
saw this from a similar vantage point to you in hamilton ontario. eclipse was probably the most surreal experience ever; id even travel out of country to see this phenomena again. clouds got out of the way just in time too, was epic beyond words.
Oh man, was there any wind just prior to totality? From the Southern shore of Lake Erie, there was a deeply chill wind that hit us ~10 minutes prior to totality and which wasn't there previously.
@@macgeek2004 yeah it was about +10 before the moon started covering the sun and then it progressively got colder, i didn’t get much wind though, far enough away from the lake. but hands started to freeze once “night” hit
@@palyze It took an hour for the warmth of sunlight to return after totality. Wind and sound and colour all vanished in the last minute before totality.
We also had plans in Texas and cancelled our flights. Ended up in Caribou, Maine with crystal clear skies.
We had a thin cirrus cloud layer in NW Ohio which IMO gave an amazing view of the totality. It was just thin enough to clearly see the eclipse, but thick enough to take away some of the brightness of the Corona leaving a blueish sliver ring almost like an annular eclipse. We could even see the prominence's with the naked eye.
I went to northern Louisiana where my ex and kid live. My kid and I then drove up to Hot Springs AR. A few high level clouds, but even less than in Montreal. 7 years ago we were in rural SC with just nature, so the contract with even a medium size town full of people and their reaction was really neat.
I was in Northern Dallas and had a perfect totality (3 min 3 seconds) view.
I live in Northern Indiana amd took a 2 hour trip Southeast just for totality and boy was it worth it.
I was around Hamilton, Ontario, and we almost give up, but 30 min before the totality would happen the clouds broke around our area for just enough time to experience totality, it was awesome!
I was in New York, lucked out between two cloud bands. Glad you saw it Scott.
My brother was in Mexico on the pacific coast and they had great views
Mazatlan was great. It was amazing watching it on the beach. I don’t understand why not many Americans tried to get there.
@@danielblanco208 I flew to Mazatlán from Europe to see the eclipse. I would say that over 70 % of tourists there were Mexicans who came for the weekend and stayed on Monday. The sky was not perfectly clear but I did manage to get some nice shots.
Nice to know you could see it. A person I know has a private pilot license and attempted to chase the eclipse via his Cessna, and managed to get 2 extra minutes to see it! (He got around 5 1/2 minutes of viewing time in total)
ahahah i can imagine a fleet of little cessnas flying in formation under the eclipse blocking the view of everyone on the ground XD
There was apparently a major airline flight (Delta I think?) that had been advertised as an "eclipse flight" but at the critical moment they weren't allowed to make the maneuver to get on the right flightpath for totality. Air traffic control denied them because the place they wanted to be was already a _very_ busy airspace.
Clear skies one hour east of Montreal.... What an amazing sight it was.
Glad to hear you visited us in Quebec :)
We weren't sure how much we would see in Conway, AR, due to the weather, but it cooperated fantastically with clear skies. Great way to spend the day with family and friends!
Man I went to Russellville Arkansas, it was supposed to be super cloudy, ended up being absolutely clear!
Me too. They had a Beetles cover band and played "Here comes the sun".
I was right below you in Ola, AR. Absolutely perfect weather and temps. I found this roadside park on a mountain ridge with an elevated view, was amazing.
@@davidhuh9264 I was lucky, I have family there so we came up and stayed, set up my cameras in their front yard! The 2017 eclipse I was in the middle of nowhere in a farmer’s field next to a creek just south of Russellville Missouri so I didn’t get to take my time getting there and leaving…
I went to Russellville, too, but saw the eclipse in Mount Nebo State Park. Fantastic view! Also, great hiking.
the tour guide at kennedy space center gave you a shout out when i was there recently, "scott manley the english youtuber"
Claimed by England like Olympic athletes.
English!!!?
Me and my grand kids & great grand kids watched it in our front yard in Arkansas. It was absolutely PERFECT ❤
I drove to Lebanon Indiana from Chicago and had the most incredible Eclipse experience!!
The only total eclipse I've experienced was in Munich in 1999 - standing on a rooftop with friends listening to U2 (staring at the sun obviously) in the lead up. About half an hour before the eclipse it started to get very cloudy and we were worried we wouldn't get to see the Corona, however very fortunately there was a cloud break a few minutes before totality. The noise of the birds flocking to roost and the traffic suddenly stopping followed by the most awe inspiring sight I've ever seen in the rain was something I'll never forget. Glad it worked out for you
My sisters and I planned to drive to the fredricksburg area but instead went north to a park in Waxahachie. We had some clouds before and after, but totally clear skies during totality. An amazing experience and there was barely anyone there.
I was in Ayer's Cliff, which is the one town easily accessible from Montreal and directly in the middle of the totality path, we got 3m27s if I remember correctly and the clouds moved in JUST after 3rd contact, and half an hour after 4th contact you couldn't see the sun at all anymore. Incredibly thankful to have seen this, it was incredible.
I viewed it from Central Newfoundland. The clouds cleared up in time for totality. All I could do was look in awe and be grateful I got to see this eclipse.
The view here below the border in nearby northeasterm Vermont was spectacular, barely any clouds, and we got to see the full effect of the umbra and corona and planets, stars, everything.
We were also going to Fredericksburg, TX. Instead, we went north almost to Brady, TX. The forecast was for 30% cloud cover (high level cloud too). We got a nice view of totality, and 3 minutes! It worked out great. I'm really glad it worked out for you too!
I was in Hamilton Ontario, it was clouded over all day, then cleared up leading into the eclipse and just started to cloud up again around totality.
The effects of the light in the clouds was amazing! With pinks and greens, and huge lighting contrasts.
I was kinda worried it would end up being a letdown considering I took time off work to go see it, but it was totally worth it. Now knowing that the next one to go by in my area will be over a hundred years from now I am extremely glad I did, and might travel to see the one in Alberta in 20ish years
I was southeast of Dallas..it was dicey, I admit, but the skies cleared just when we wanted.
I made plans to go with my wife to just north of Dallas. The forecast looked iffy at best but I wasn't going to change. We wanted to check into the hotel the day before until the day after and get what we get. It was a little cloudy in the morning and it kept getting worse but started clearing up just before the eclipse started. By the time it was total, there were only a few high clouds that didn't block the view. It was a wonderful thing to see with my best friend to see something we've never seen before!
We were so glad the skies cleared in Dallas. Being the cheesy guy I am, I managed to time it perfectly for Final Countdown to finish just before totality, and for Total Eclipse of the Heart to play during the entirety. It was awesome!
Went from Asheville, NC to Shelbyville, IN, just SE from Indy. Skies cleared up. 4 minutes of totality. Wish Scott had been there!
Flew my small plane from near Boston up to Jackman, Maine. North and east of Montreal. Perfect clear skies and a wonderful fly-in atmosphere. At the moment of totality someone started playing Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001 theme) out of loudspeakers in their hangar. It was amazing.
I hadn't planned ahead, so I went impulsively day-of. I live in southern Ontario, just off of the totality path, so I drove a couple hours to a small town closer to lake Erie where the skies were supposed to be blue. It all worked out perfectly, with clear skies and a great view of the eclipse!
I took my campervan to lake placid NY and it was absolutely blissful! No obscenely large crowds, minimal traffic on the way out (I left Tuesday) and the local infrastructure didn't fall apart like everyone was afraid of! I was in the horse show parking lot with about 150 ish other vehicles where everyone was tailgating and socializing and it was an amazing time! The weather stayed nice too! I am so thankful to live where I do in NY, only a few hours from the path of totality! It was truly amazing and I'd drive anywhere in the US to see another one!
Nome, Alaska has one in 2033. Next one in the lower 48 is in eastern Montana in 2044.
Our initial spot was Texas, and then the clouds spooked us off to Arkansas. Which doesn't sell beer on Sundays. So Oklahoma it was and BOY did we cut it JUST perfect. Saw four minutes of totality, and maybe two minutes after the main event, clouds rolled in. It was amazing.
I held to the same plans I’d had for months and bet on Cleveland, OH. It worked out spectacularly. Same thin, wispy cirrus clouds as Montreal, but with a glorious 4 minutes of totality.