Cloudy Weather Could Keep Half of America From Seeing the Total Solar Eclipse

Clouds may obscure next week’s historic total solar eclipse for people in half of the country along the eclipse’s path of totality, meteorologists said Friday. While it’s too soon to make an accurate weather forecast for Monday’s highly anticipated celestial spectacle, the National Weather Service said computer models at the moment only show favorable sky conditions in the Northwest, including Oregon, where the solar eclipse first hits, while parts of the Southeast could see heavy cloud cover or even rain. “It’s looking good for half of the country — other parts, not so great,” said Mike Musher, a meteorologist and lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. “But things can still change and evolve over the next few days.” Courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)NOAA’s graphic shows cloud coverage predictions for the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse. Musher said there will be very low percentages of cloud cover — which is ideal for eclipse viewing — across parts of the Pacific Northwest and over some metropolitan areas like Portland, Ore. and Nashville, Tenn. People in parts of Kentucky and southern Illinois can also expect to have nice weather. The fewer clouds in the sky, the more likely eclipse chasers will be able to fully witness the rare event. However, residents in Oregon and Idaho should watch for rising smoke from active wildfires...
Source: TIME: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized eclipse onetime space space 2017 weather Source Type: news