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[Rothman]

...
Anyone staying in NY for the eclipse or, even sillier, heading north, is fooling themselves that they'll see anything but gray clouds.

If it was February or March, then yes. April is a more of a toss up, there's certainly a non-zero chance it will be clear or partially clear.

Oh, come on.  Totality crosses the cloudiest areas of New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Tug Hill...We're talking April 8th.  Sure, a non-zero chance...but you're talking about areas of the country where even on the days of the greatest chance of being clear (during the summer), that chance is still less than 70%.  On April 8th, you're looking at the chance of it being cloudy as more than 50%.  Weatherspark merely states that in Watertown in April, cloud cover is constant.

Western and central Upstate NY is simply one of the cloudiest areas of the entire country.  Sure, if you can't get out of Dodge, you're stuck with the high likelihood that it will be cloudy.  But, staying in NY if you really want to see the eclipse and have the means to head off to better climes, is just foolhardy.

The same Weatherspark says for Rochester, there's a 47% chance of being partly or mostly clear, 53% chance of partly or mostly cloudy. That's pretty much the definition of a toss up.

Taking another look at the graph that 7/8 posted in reply# 24, there's really not a huge difference between most of Texas and western NY. If you really want the greatest chance of clear weather, you have to go well into Mexico, and that's a whole different story. I also have anectodal experience of being in Texas in late March (San Antonio area, 1-2 weeks before the eclipse date) and it was cloudy when I arrived and at least partly cloudy for most of the stay until the final day, so that's not swaying me towards Texas either. No denying there is a greater chance of it being clear there, but for the big jump from around 50% down to almost 0%, you'd have to go to extreme western Texas or Mexico.

So...leave it up to a toss of a coin?  One out of two days is cloudy?  Fuhgettaboutit.

Head south, young man.

[Jim]

I know I'd absolutely get somewhere with more reliable weather if the timing of it allowed.  Realistically, it's likely a day trip or nothing for me in April.  Though looking at the recent history of cloudy days (according to https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8), even Texas struggles to get below 50% chance of clouds.

[1995hoo]

I know I'd absolutely get somewhere with more reliable weather if the timing of it allowed.  Realistically, it's likely a day trip or nothing for me in April.  Though looking at the recent history of cloudy days (according to https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8), even Texas struggles to get below 50% chance of clouds.

Mazatlan has a 28% chance of clouds, but I'm not sure I'd be keen on flying to Mexico for this. Even Del Rio, Texas, is in the 47% range.

[Alps]

I saw a total eclipse in a tiny break in an overcast sky in Argentina. I'll take New York. Can we leave this discussion to the meet itself please.

[vdeane]

Perhaps the general eclipse discussion (at this point, basically the entire thread after the first few posts aside from a couple replies regarding the Facebook group) could be broken off into a separate thread?

[webny99]

Perhaps the general eclipse discussion (at this point, basically the entire thread after the first few posts aside from a couple replies regarding the Facebook group) could be broken off into a separate thread?

However, it wouldn't hurt to split the non-meet related eclipse discussion to a separate thread. (I thought we already had a general 2024 eclipse thread, but now I can't find it...)

[1995hoo]

Or we could discuss that episode of the A-Team where they hypnotized B.A. so he would fall asleep whenever someone said "eclipse."

[jpi]

To be honest I am not sure on this one, it is happening the time of the year that my other hobby has a BIG spring diecast convention held at a random city in the mid west so depending on how that pans out will decide if Steph and I can view another eclipse like we did in 2017 when we met up with a few fellow AARoads members in McMinnville, TN just an hour away from our house.

[bandit957]

Possible, but only if poo.

[SSOWorld]

To be honest I am not sure on this one, it is happening the time of the year that my other hobby has a BIG spring diecast convention held at a random city in the mid west so depending on how that pans out will decide if Steph and I can view another eclipse like we did in 2017 when we met up with a few fellow AARoads members in McMinnville, TN just an hour away from our house.

McMinnville, TN is not in the totality path. <1% of TN is.

[froggie]

To be honest I am not sure on this one, it is happening the time of the year that my other hobby has a BIG spring diecast convention held at a random city in the mid west so depending on how that pans out will decide if Steph and I can view another eclipse like we did in 2017 when we met up with a few fellow AARoads members in McMinnville, TN just an hour away from our house.

McMinnville, TN is not in the totality path. <1% of TN is.

I read that as he met up with others in McMinnville during the 2017 event.

[CtrlAltDel]

McMinnville, TN is not in the totality path. <1% of TN is.

You ain't kiddin':

[SSOWorld]

To be honest I am not sure on this one, it is happening the time of the year that my other hobby has a BIG spring diecast convention held at a random city in the mid west so depending on how that pans out will decide if Steph and I can view another eclipse like we did in 2017 when we met up with a few fellow AARoads members in McMinnville, TN just an hour away from our house.

McMinnville, TN is not in the totality path. <1% of TN is.

I read that as he met up with others in McMinnville during the 2017 event.

Well, I suppose I did not 

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

So...Upper Sandusky, Ohio it is (for 2024).

[hbelkins]

McMinnville, TN is not in the totality path. <1% of TN is.

You ain't kiddin':

If Kentucky Bend is in the path of totality -- which it appears to be, based on the graphic above -- that would be a rather desolate place from which to view the darkness.

[1995hoo]

It would also be an outstanding excuse to visit there.

[kphoger]

Oooooohhh!  This makes it really tempting to time a Mexico trip with the eclipse.  The town we always do mission work in is only a two-hour drive from Torreón.  And our friends live on the outskirts of town, away from the city lights.  And their house is two stories, with a balcony...

[kharvey10]

Keep in mind meet is a long term plan the hotels will likely be booked a year in advance for this event.  You cannot control Mother Nature this far out, and dad being at an advanced age (will be turning 80 less than two weeks after that event) means I will not be traveling far.

[Laura]

Is there a good state or national park/monument in Southern Illinois?

Mike and I saw the 2017 eclipse from Homestead National Historical Park in Beatrice, NE and what was really nice about it was that we took our time at the museum and on the grounds before and after the event so that we didn't have to deal with traffic. I think I read every single informational placard at the site!!! Before the eclipse, we stayed at a very inexpensive and nice Airbnb about 2 hours away in Columbus, NE (an entire single family house and pool to ourselves for cheaper than a hotel room). Since it was outside of totality there was no reason for our host to raise the price.

I would be open to doing something like that again. It was a great excuse to visit parts of the country that I otherwise might not visit. Plus it was fun to be at a national site with other people (including Bill Nye the Science Guy, who I got a selfie with!!!)

[Alps]

Is there a good state or national park/monument in Southern Illinois?

Mike and I saw the 2017 eclipse from Homestead National Historical Park in Beatrice, NE and what was really nice about it was that we took our time at the museum and on the grounds before and after the event so that we didn't have to deal with traffic. I think I read every single informational placard at the site!!! Before the eclipse, we stayed at a very inexpensive and nice Airbnb about 2 hours away in Columbus, NE (an entire single family house and pool to ourselves for cheaper than a hotel room). Since it was outside of totality there was no reason for our host to raise the price.

I would be open to doing something like that again. It was a great excuse to visit parts of the country that I otherwise might not visit. Plus it was fun to be at a national site with other people (including Bill Nye the Science Guy, who I got a selfie with!!!)

come up to Quebec with me! enjoy poutine!

[Laura]

Is there a good state or national park/monument in Southern Illinois?

Mike and I saw the 2017 eclipse from Homestead National Historical Park in Beatrice, NE and what was really nice about it was that we took our time at the museum and on the grounds before and after the event so that we didn't have to deal with traffic. I think I read every single informational placard at the site!!! Before the eclipse, we stayed at a very inexpensive and nice Airbnb about 2 hours away in Columbus, NE (an entire single family house and pool to ourselves for cheaper than a hotel room). Since it was outside of totality there was no reason for our host to raise the price.

I would be open to doing something like that again. It was a great excuse to visit parts of the country that I otherwise might not visit. Plus it was fun to be at a national site with other people (including Bill Nye the Science Guy, who I got a selfie with!!!)

come up to Quebec with me! enjoy poutine!

But clouds!

Anyway, I found some Southern IL eclipse info from 2017 that provides some ideas: https://southernillinoiseclipse.com/the-eclipse/places-to-watch

[US 89]

The easiest way to see this eclipse from Florida, which is also the most climatologically favored, is going to be to drive to someplace in Texas. It's on a Monday, so ideally I'd make a long weekend out of it.