Hoosier

You're due!

Yeah, could be an issue. Hopefully people pull over. I was thinking about something. Imagine somebody traveling through who has no idea about the eclipse (hard to imagine with the publicity it will be getting but just for the sake of argument). They will be wondering what the heck is going on lol

Booking a room in St. Louis and hoping I won't need it. If the weather looks like it's going to be questionable in the IL/KY area, I will head to St. Louis on Sunday so that I can leave from there on Monday and head west in Missouri or into Kansas/Nebraska if necessary. The good thing is that almost all of I-70 in Missouri is in the path of totality, so it wouldn't matter if I-70 turns into a traffic jam by some chance.

I was poking around just for the heck of it, and it looks like hotels are filling up fast in the path of totality in MO/IL/KY, and what is left seems to be charging higher rates compared to what they typically do. Areas on the fringe or outside (say St. Louis) have more openings, at least for now.

It appears that August 7, 1869 was the last total solar eclipse in a somewhat similar area of the sub. Earlier I mentioned the June 30, 1954 eclipse, but that was in the upper Midwest/northern Lakes (there was also one there on January 24, 1925). https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEsearchmap.php?Ecl=18690807

Looking at videos of past total eclipses, it's not difficult to imagine how people many hundreds/thousands of years ago before scientific understanding would've been scared to death at what was happening. Not only with how dark it gets, but how fast it goes from sorta dim to really dark.

After 2024, the next total solar eclipse in this region won't take place until September 14, 2099. There will be several more in the US prior to that though.

Here is some news coverage from the last total solar eclipse in the lower 48. They mentioned that the next one wouldn't be until 8/21/2017.

Yep, pretty remarkable. That one will be even better in some ways as the totality zone is wider and it lasts longer (over 4 minutes I believe).

Yeah, if anyone wants to coordinate travel plans, feel free. Might be tricky to pull off something organized though as people have different preferences on where to go and the possibility of having to move around. I guess we could all head to bdgwx's house.

Based on what I've read from people who have witnessed total eclipses, they recommend not getting too caught up in taking pics and just taking in the surroundings. All kinds of crazy things will be happening, from stars being visible to animals/insects getting fooled into thinking it's night. My preferred target area is IL/KY (probably KY)... that area will spend some of the longest time in totality (even though we are talking about a matter of seconds difference). Hoping to do the whole trip in one day but it will require a very early departure time to get in place.

Besides weather, traffic is one thing I'm concerned about. With modern transportation and the interstate system, there is no analog for this particular eclipse in the United States where such a long zone from coast to coast is in play. There's no telling how many people may try to get into the path of totality, perhaps some at the last minute. Definitely add plenty of extra time if you're driving on the day of.

Yeah, that's a good spot if you want the experience of viewing in a big city. They are the biggest city that is fully within the total eclipse zone.

Interactive map that gives all kinds of nerdy details for any location http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html

I have heard that hotels in/near the totality zone are filling up fast, especially out west where clouds are climatologically less likely. Fortunately, many of us live close enough to be able to drive to the totality zone on the same day. Obviously, weather will be so critical. Hopefully the weather pattern is such that clouds will be at a minimum.

Well, the time is coming, as we are now just about 7 weeks away from this majestic occurrence. Just some general background information on this eclipse. Total solar eclipses are visible somewhere on Earth with some degree of regularity, but it is very unusual to get one in your country, and even more rare if you're lucky enough to get one in your backyard. The last total solar eclipse to occur in the contiguous US was back on February 26, 1979, and the last one to occur in any part of the Midwest was on June 30, 1954. This upcoming total solar eclipse will also be the first one since 1918 to have the path of totality crossing all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and will be the first one to be exclusively visible over the United States landmass in many, many hundreds of years (in other words, you can't be in any other country if you want to see this total solar eclipse). Here are some maps courtesy of Michael Zeiler at www.greatamericaneclipse.com You must be somewhere within the outlined zone to see this as a total solar eclipse. Not 50 miles away, not 10 miles away, not a couple miles away. And the closer you are to the center line, the better. Not to say you won't have a decent show outside of the zone, but in weather terms, it's a bit like the difference between a 6" snow and an all out 3 foot blizzard. For anyone outside of the total eclipse zone, it will look a bit like the May 10, 1994 (annular) solar eclipse.

Can't say it's been a quiet start, overall. If you just look at tornado reports, there aren't many years outdoing this one so far.

Man that's brutal!

Wikipedia has a nice summary and listing of tornadoes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_March_2–3,_2012

Sorry folks. There was stuff being posted all over the board.

I read that many places are already booked in the West (climo favors less cloudiness there).

Yay, other eclipse geeks here Here's about what it will look like in areas that aren't fortunate to be in the zone of totality

Couple images from SPC from that day. I do remember the focus/target area that day being pretty broad. Then attention quickly shifted toward Joplin.

Can't imagine being so close to total devastation as you were. You were in the outer fringes of the tornado IIRC?

What happened in that event? Was it a case of completely missing the lake effect potential or just being off with the placement of the band?