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solar eclipse
There’s nothing like the feeling of getting all dressed up and having nowhere to go. This old southern adage may take shape in the upcoming anticipation of the April 8 Solar Eclipse, which by some estimates could be covered by clouds. Of course, we’re all hoping this is only a warning to be prepared for the worst. However, given this type of event happens every 375 years, there’s no do-overs (talk about pressure).
As of Sunday April 7, local weather experts state that our area will enter an active weather pattern that will consist of a series of disturbances throughout North Texas. While that does mean a good chance for rain and cloud cover, depending on timing there will be breaks in the clouds and rain between disturbances. The National Weather Service is giving DFW a 20-25% chance for favorable viewing conditions. However, we all know the weather in our area can turn on a dime; hopefully, in this case, for the best.
Future cast weather models show an abundance of weather events set to hit North Texas on this auspicious date, but they may be pushed more to the west of DFW given a low-pressure system developing over the weekend in Colorado. The real bur in the saddle of this situation is its just too early to tell.
On the flip side, Texas, more specifically, North Texas is set to be crowded with sky-gazing onlookers gathering from everywhere and all walks of life. So many people are expected to clamor to the small towns that reside on the 115-mile-wide path of totality, many of these towns have already declared a state of emergency. The anticipated influx of sky-watchers is so dire, that Texas Monthly even stated that these crowds are expected to create traffic jams, overcrowd regional airports, and drain precious resources like food, water, and fuel. The cleanup post eclipse is also expected to reach disastrous proportions, and that’s if everything goes to plan. But this event isn’t all gloom and doom, there’s still a chance, even with some cloud cover, that everyone will have an opportunity to see a partial eclipse and experience a drop in temperature for a few minutes.
According to space.com, visibility of this celestial event will depend on how thick and how extensive the clouds are on Monday April 8. Cloud cover or not, sky-gazers will certainly notice some unusual effects, when the moon’s shadow passes by.
“If your sky is covered with mid-to-high-level clouds — cirrostratus, altostratus and/or cirrocumulus — you will likely be able to see the forward edge of the elliptical shadow move rapidly toward you and then over you just prior to and at the onset of totality. And with its passage may come a remarkable change in the overall quality of light on the surrounding landscape and a dramatic change in the clouds' color,” Joe Rao at space.com writes.
But to play devil’s advocate for a second, there could be a flurry of thick low clouds that block the entire display. This happens when clouds at low altitudes, below 6,500 feet cover an area and bring precipitation, let’s pray this isn’t the case.
This just seems like more than an, “Oh shucks,” moment given our state is mostly known to be a sunny one, especially in North Texas, where we expect to see one of the best views of the path of totality in the U.S. I mean, this warning could be for nothing, but we know our weather, and we know what this historic event means given we won’t see another one in our lifetime.
The totality of the eclipse will approach Fort Worth at 1:25 p.m. CDT.
