Scarlet Pimpernel

Thank you for the kind words! Glad you liked those! There are so many tulips I've seen around the Bethesda area, it's like I couldn't decide what to choose for taking photos!!!

@mappy...TULIPS!!! (2nd one is in black/white)

There won't be such a thing as "threads" in 21 years, as we currently know it! Well, other than the Panic Room, where the ageless Reaper @WxWatcher007 will still remain to guide us hapless souls, even well into his retirement by then!

Thanks! It was interesting getting shots with the filter on because essentially everything but the sun was black (by design with a solar filter). Had to look up a bit on the flip-screen and zoom out to "find" the sun and then zoom in to the full 500mm on my lens and take the shots.

Nope,no tracker or anything. I was outside through that time, about 2:00pm through 3:30pm and took many shots. Then yes, I post-processed them to get the same size image afterward and changed the white balance temp to make the sun a bit more yellow looking (through the filter it was almost white looking).

Amazing shots from everyone here, those who were fortunate enough to be in the path of totality and those of us who were here locally in the DC metro area!!!

I was just going to say...damn, dude, you got the diamond ring on that shot!!! Amazing!!

Finally...here ya go!

Got many shots of the partial eclipse here in the DC metro area (about 87% or so coverage). Not as spectacular as totality but still neat to experience. It got pretty dim with this almost eerie light and definitely got cooler. I don't think the gif animation I made will fit here, so will attach two subsequent posts after this with a sort of series from some of them. Used my solar filter throughout, changed the white balance to 7500K to get a slight yellow tint to the sun, and cropped the images. In some of the earlier shots you can make out sunspots. I used a 500mm lens. (ETA: See below...actually managed to get them all into one post!)

That's pretty amazing! On a slightly different note (related to Illinois), I also thought I heard that somewhere in Illinois, they have a cross-over of the 17 and 13 year periodical cicadas (I guess far enough south where both can exist?). And this year, BOTH broods will be emerging at the same time!

@mappy...TULIPS coming soon!! Hope to get some nice photos and will post some here for you (and everyone) when I can! I've actually seen quite a few tulips coming out in the past couple of weeks.

You know, this is probably the best attitude to be honest. Go where you can get to and deal with what ends up happening, no point in stressing out over it. I've never been in a position to have a bunch of possible locations and change that on a dime, myself. And, my trip to the Cleveland to see family there for the eclipse ended up being canceled anyhow. Partly due to logistical issues with the drive, plus the not-great-look that I saw showing up in the middle of last week. So I decided to just be OK staying here in the DC area with a partial coverage (~87%) and hopefully can get some nice shots of that at least. I hope you have a good time in Ohio, regardless of how things are! I'm biased having grown up there, but I like the place, it's my home! I'll get in a visit up that way another time this year, maybe can catch a Guardians' game while I'm at it.

Finally! I can't wait for a good eclipse NAMing!!!

Yeah, even if just a sliver of sun is visible, it won't be the same of course. But agree, if he's looking to be with family then that's the main factor here regardless of whether or not it's 100% total. Yup. If it's too cloudy you won't even get to see the partial coverage with a partial eclipse (with appropriate eye protection of course!), and the same is true in an area that's in the path as you lead up to totality. I've seen a couple of partial eclipses (one was actually a partial annular one), and while of course it doesn't get dark it gives this sort of eerily dim, "3-D" look outside. There's also a neat effect of crescent-looking shadows on the ground anywhere the sun passes through an opening (such as leaves, though not many of those out yet). I, myself, have essentially given up and canceled my trip to Cleveland to my brother and sister-in-law's place. The forecast trends the last few days have not been good for that area, and even if there's no actual rain on Monday the cloud issues just seem like it will be too much. That, plus other logistical issues I'd have driving up there, make it not the most worthwhile. Wasn't an easy decision and it sucks, but oh well. Everyone knew that early April in that area is normally a dubious proposition for clear skies and that this was a possibility. I'll "settle" for observing it here locally (and hope it's not just as bad with clouds even here!!), and hopefully get some good shots of the partial coverage over time using the solar filter I have for my telephoto lens.

GFS continues to look completely awful for the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley area. Just about the worst possible outcome with rain all day as the low goes right through Ohio. Guess we'll see but I don't like the trends in that shortwave that runs into the Omega block, even on the Euro and the ensembles. Although the Euro is much farther northwest with the low and the precip looks a lot more scattered. Almost wonder if it might be better to just stay local here in the DC area and observe a partial eclipse (~87% coverage), and get some photos of that (I have a solar filter for this purpose). At least so far, it looks pretty clear around this region. Might have to see until later in the week. Still may say screw it and go up to see family in Ohio and at least have a fun visit even if it rains all damned day Monday and you can't see anything other than it getting darker.

<AussieAccent>Right, mate! Throw some shrimp on the barbey and enjoy a cold one whilst watching the sun disappear! That's how we do it right downunder!</AussieAccent>

Ugh...GFS has trended toward a veritable actual washout for the Ohio valley/lower Lakes area. At least the GEFS ensembles are not so enthusiastic about that, though they hedged more in that direction. The Euro, as @baltosquid showed (at least from last night) is much farther west with that shortwave and associated low. Still iffy, but not a total skunk. Heck...I almost wonder if the GFS-like solution is correct in the end, if it would actually be better if that system can speed up quite a bit and clear the area around the lower Lakes by Monday (and weaken it more), rather than being over that region on that day. It almost looked like the GFS was accelerating it a bit, in fact.

For those of us who will be going into IN/OH/PA/western NY (I, myself, will be visiting family in the Cleveland area for this)...hard to know what to root for. That shortwave in the upper midwest seems to be problematic, from what I have been looking at of late? Do we hope for that shortwave to either be weaker, or farther northwest (or both), such that the ridging through the Ohio Valley and east remains more intact? It seems that wave is knocking down the ridging a bit more but I've only taken cursory glances at the models the past few days.

I'm actually not quite sure what to root for, for anywhere along the path. It seems pretty set right now that if you're in the northeast US, it is looking like the best chances for clear. But from western NY into TX along the path, it gets dicey. Do we hope for that southwestern trough to slow down enough so that the southwest flow of moisture doesn't get to TX and points northeast until after it's over? Or at least not enough to ruin things. And what about that shortwave that's now coming into the upper midwest, that could adversely affect things in IN/OH/PA/western NY? That sort of seems to have gotten stronger and pushed the ridging in the Ohio Valley and east down a bit from what I saw. I kind of hope that shortwave ends up being farther northwest (and/or weaker?) to allow the ridge to stay intact enough at least into Monday evening.

Well, I'm casting my lot at my brother and sister-in-law's place in the Cleveland area, south of town. Not much choice. Going up there Saturday and returning on Tuesday. I contemplated trying a "secondary" location within an hour or so drive of Cleveland if it looked like it might be clearer the day before, but now just think it won't be worth it. You'd probably have to go a fair bit more to find much different (better?) sky conditions anyhow. Not to mention, I don't care to deal with the mass of crazy traffic and even crazier crowds anywhere along the path, in a place I don't know or don't know exactly where to park and station myself. Just don't have the time, finances, or desire to have backup and backup-of-backup plans, honestly. My hope is that it's reasonably clear enough at least in parts of the sky to see it, or maybe some high but see-through thin clouds...just not thick, socked-in clouds and/or rain. That's really all I expect in that area to be honest. If it's good enough, we'll be able to watch it right from their yard, on the deck! Can't get much easier than that. And, worst case as I said before, if it's crap with complete overcast, at least I can have a fun couple days' visit!

Certainly agree about UCONN...they're playing like they're on a mission. But I doubt they'll blow out Illinois, that should be quite a game I think, though UCONN will probably still win. As a Purdue grad, I just hope the Boilermakers can actually at least make it to the Final Four. Too many disappointments by them when they've had really good teams, it's about time they get that far, if not to the Finals. But I'm wary and would not be surprised if they don't make it past this weekend.

Yup, I hear you! I hope you have a great time in Ohio, regardless of how the weather is for the eclipse! But hopefully that will cooperate as well! I grew up in northeast Ohio, which is why I'm familiar with how early April can be. It's not always crap, but it's not typically the best time of year for good weather (hell, the Indians/Guardians have had games SNOWED OUT before!!!). All I can do is cross my fingers that at least a few hours Monday afternoon will be nice enough.

I'll be visiting my brother and sister-in-law in the Cleveland area for the eclipse. My expectations there are not the greatest, as I'm all too familiar with the fact that northeast Ohio plus early April typically equals crappy weather. Not much you can do about it and I'm not in a position to have various disparate locations to go to if needed, on very short notice. However, if by chance it looks cloudy where my brother is but somewhere within say 50 miles is likely to be clear, we may well just drive early on the 8th and set up to watch there. But even that would have to be spur-of-the-moment. My hope is that it's at least reasonably clear for the event. I certainly don't expect completely clear, blue skies with not a wisp of clouds. Not in April in Ohio. As long as it's decently visible in that time frame through the duration of the eclipse I guess. Worst case scenario, I figure, is that we're socked in with crap and it's just a fun couple of days' visit all the same.

Yup, mine is today, though I'll stick to red velvet cake myself! Oh, and @vastateofmind, happy birthday to you as a fellow March 25th-er!!!

There's always my undergrad alma mater, Purdue! They seem to perpetually choke or otherwise flub the tournament even when they have a high seeding. And...they suffered upset losses TWICE on my birthday, in seasons they were anticipated to go pretty far. First was 1988, they had the Midwest #1 seed, a very solid team and widely expected to get to the Final Four. They lost on Friday, March 25, 1988 to #4 seed Kansas State (whom they actually beat handily in a regular season game) in the Sweet 16. I was at Purdue at that time, a group of us was watching the game that evening just stunned in disappointment. They lost AGAIN on Friday, March 25, 2022 as a #3 seed to the #15 seed St. Peter's in another Sweet 16 round. Then of course last year they shared the dubious distinction of being the second #1 seed to lose to a #16 (Virginia being the first to do so a few years before). At least THAT wasn't on my birthday! And, at least this year they cannot lose on that day since March 25 is a Monday and there won't be any tourney games on that day!! This year I fully expect them to not get past the Sweet 16, or if they're lucky maybe they'll get to the Elite 8. But we'll see. I also am from Cleveland, so I am very familiar with sports agony! LOL!!!!