wxeyeNH

We don't do anything special. For some reason, we don't have too many Bluebirds this spring. None have taken up nesting in the boxes. Perhaps they don't like our new Golden Retriever rescue dog that we got last August?

We have had Bluebirds for years, but not many. A couple of years ago they started wintering over. We put Bluebird nesting houses up too. They seem to be increasing in numbers.

I think we can wrap up winter up here. The last snow piles on the north side of the house is about to go. The grass is just starting to green up and awaiting the first Forsythia, which should be any day now. That for me marks the official beginning of spring. My snow total is ending up at 90". That is slightly above normal. Although it was a very warm winter there were many marginal elevation type storms. The last two 18" and 14" really helped my total. I bet down at Newfound Lake level 600 or so below me the snow total was perhaps 15" less. This is also the first winter since I bought this house in 89 that I did not record a 0F temperature. Just last year my low was -19F the coldest I have recorded.

Ginx and I are the same age. If we are still around in 2045 I am going to send him south for the next good eclipse in the US. The trip will be on me!! Once he experiences totality he won't be saying meh anymore!

I'm sitting here reading all the great experiences of totality. Over the past month I had been driving people crazy with...you just have to see it. Many people that are not into things did take my advice and headed into totality. I read RU848789 traffic post with interest since he said at Coppertop B and B which is a couple miles from where I live. Leading up to the eclipse I thought NH did a poor job in preparing for the incoming traffic. I wished they had set up contraflow through Franconia Notch in the one lane area. It is interesting to go back and read my post the day before the eclipse. Fortunately many locals took my advice and went west of 25, up along the Conn River on the NH side and made it up to Lyndonville and beyond with light traffic both ways. ========================================================= Solar Eclipse Tomorrow. Peak coverage time 3:30pm I wanted to update the group one more time about the solar eclipse. The weather is looking good but there might be some cloudiness coming in during the afternoon. This cloudiness will be the high-thin type. In the Newfound Area, this will not be a total eclipse. If you’re not going to travel north any area around the lake is good to view it. I would stay in your yard as long as you have afternoon sun. It will get somewhat darker and with eclipse glasses you will slowly see the sun eaten by the moon as the moon passes in front of it. Although we will have 97 to 98% of the sun covered at maximum around 3:30 pm the sky will stay surprisingly bright. You will not be able to see planets or stars nor the super cool effects that they will see under totality 45 miles north of the lake. Locally most people will find it somewhat interesting but I think will end up saying “What was all that hype for?” Anyone traveling north will say, “Wow I never thought it would be nearly that cool! If you decide to travel north and get under the full shadow of the moon it is a whole different story. Either you get under the moon's full shadow or you don’t. It is a very sharp line and makes all the difference. The problem is going to be perhaps the worst traffic in NH history. Lack of facilities like gas, restrooms food service, and very limited and overwhelmed cell service. So plan accordingly. Avoid Franconia Notch. If it were me I would head up to the Plymouth traffic circle and head northwest on Rt 25 and then up along the Connecticut River. Cross over one of the bridges into Vermont. Perhaps there will be less traffic if you stay on the NH side until Monroe and then cross over into Vermont. Head up to St Johnsbury on Rt 5 or Rt 91. Anyplace northwest of there is good. The further north and west a longer and darker eclipse. It is going to be a warm spring day and people in the totality area may be having driveway barbecues etc. Perhaps bring a few six packs or some $$ and ask if you could just pull in their driveway to watch. Who knows they may even offer you or the kids a potty break.

I don't think it ever gets dark as night in all directions Of course you were near the southern limit of totality so just a few miles to your south that final "light switch" never went out. I assume right at centerline it is the darkest as the distance is greater to the sunlight on either side. That light switch effect is amazing because it happens so fast. Even that last .25% of sunlight is so strong that until the 2nd contact there is not much to see except that sliver through the glasses. Then bam, it all happens!. At my location it was a 98% partial and my friend who was up was not very impressed. Too much hype for what, the light just got a bit dimmer but really nothing of note to see. It was a bit difficult to tell locals that they had to make that 45 mile trip north.

Mark, great video. Even as you panned around you can see how fast the light was changing over Burke. Those strange light ripples you saw are called Shadow Bands. It is a very unique phenomena. Many scientists were setting up experiments to try to catch them as it is not very well understood. They can best be seen over bright surfaces and the snowcover provided that. I never noticed them in Aruba. As far as traffic goes I figured Franconia Notch was going to be a Sshow. I am very active on our Newfound FB Group and I posted several times about the eclipse. I suggested taking Rt 25 west towards the Connecticut River and going north but staying on the NH side and getting as far north as possible. Then crossing the bridge in Monroe NH to get up to St Johnsbury. From what I heard that the route worked well no backups at all. From Thorton it might have been better to go south on Rt 93 to Plymouthhead west then north. None of that matters anymore. As long as you got to see it you did well. Again, great drone video.

T That "little" flare is a solar prominence. To put the size in perspective here is the size of the earth as compared.

A friend of mine up in Sherbrooke Quebec is not really into weather and such. I have been harping about this eclipse forever. Honestly he was not really into it. This morning I said just wait and then give me your honest opinion. His text just now was "No words. Honestly the coolest 3 minutes of my life". I'm glad it worked out. The next total solar eclipse for New England is 2079 but it is an early morning crappy eclipse. After that well into the next century for us

Wasn't it great? Since we saw ours in 1998 I keep telling people you have to see one in your lifetime. Here at 98% it was no big deal. Either your under the shadow or your not. Congrats. The weather along the swatch turned out much better than it had looked. It was fun to watch from the Mansfield webcam.

61.4F at first contact. Thin cirrus moving overhead now so the temperature drop will not be 100% from the eclipse

The kids will remember this afternoon for the rest of their lives. Hope you guys enjoy it

Ouch. From Rt 93 over the Pemi near Thorton to Cannon is 20 miles. Lots of kids, Mom I have to go to the bathroom!

The social element is really interesting to watch. I have waited for this day since 1998 when I saw my last total. I always thought NH was not prepared if it would be a nice day. According to the traffic maps Rt 93 if you can get through Concord up towards the noth you will hit a 15 mile traffic jam. I even had thought about contra flow after the eclipse to get people southbound but that would take so much $$ to setup.

45 minute traffic jam to get through the Notch

I just checked. Cabot Lodge only has a 45 second total eclipse. Even the other side of Lancaster to the north adds 30 seconds. You are so close to awesomeness but I would definately drive 15 minutes north. Just my opinion who has seen a total

Lancaster gets just barely under totality. If you can even a 5 or 10 mile drive further north is a darker and much longer eclipse. At the edge of a solar eclipse each mile towards centerline adds quite a bit more time for totality

Early release in my school district Central Nh

These high clouds are going to screw things up a bit. My feeling is that you still will see the eclipsed sun but it will be slightly to the west at 3:30pm. towards slightly thicker cirrus. That might block out the corona, Bailey's Beads and planets. Looking at the traffic maps Franconia Notch has a 4 mile backup.

I am curious to hear from you Mets. The timing of that cirrus layer is critical. Although the sun will filter through I don't know if it will be a thicker solid high overcast with filtered sun or a very thin layer of cirrus that is hardly noticable. I'm not smart enough to look at the moisture layers to determine how thick the moisture layer might be. Even if the layer is thin it will screw up seeing the Diamond Ring, Bailey's Beads and the sun's corona. The planets would not be visiable either. Any thoughts on how "thick" is thick? Looks like a total layer with no holes. One more thing. At 3:30pm the sun is in the western sky to some degree. So even if the forward line of cirrus is still slightly west of any given point it may still block the afternoon sun

I just heard from a friend that just came up that RT 93 traffic is very heavy northbound. Over a 3 mile backup at the split of Rt 89 and Rt 93.

Watch what those cirrus coming in from the west. If you have choices more easterly options might be best. I'm thinking epic traffic jam in the notch right afterwards in that area near Echo lake which is one lane. This will be interesting to see how it plays out. It seems to me so many people are going but my circle of friends are interested in things like this so it is hard to gauge.

Good post

I have done the crossing into Sherbrooke many times. Usually a wait even on a regular day. I don't see how border patrol would be able to handle more than 50 cars per hour. I guess you can do a Uturn right before the border and if you time it right just pull over. All the traffic will stop at 3:25pm and with miles and miles of country land the police can't be everyplace to tell you to move on

My town is adjacent to Plymouth NH so I know the local roads well. I think the traffic is going to be fair worse than most people are expecting. The problem going north from Plymouth is that there is only one way through Franconia Notch. One lane each direction. With hundreds of thousand people coming I don't see how Rt93 would handle that. Remember that there is very little cell service in N NH and few gas stations and restrooms. Take food with you and gas. The few restaurants up in totality will be unable to help this amount of people. Although it is probable that skies would be clear over Maine there is no easy way to get there from here. Not even on a good day. So my advice is from Plymouth go west on Rt25 up to Haverill. Then use one of the bridges to cross into Vermont. Monroe might be best. Then Rt 5 to St Johnsbury. Cirrus might be an issue but our limited road system will be so overwhelmed. Just impossible to tell.