It has been a long time since something scientific has received as much fanfare from the mainstream media as this Monday’s upcoming total solar eclipse. It’s like this is Woodstock for science geeks, and we have front row seats! A huge share of our country’s population will get to witness solar eclipse totality for the first time in their lives, and now the biggest question is: will the weather cooperate? Ideally the best weather would be crystal clear skies from horizon to horizon. Unfortunately, there is nary a summer afternoon here in the Show Me State without at least a few set decorations in the sky. Of course a different perspective could be gained underneath thick cloud cover when even the small traces of daylight remaining during the two-and-a-half-minute-long darkness would undoubtedly be filtered making the midday virtually become like midnight instead of twilight. No matter what the weather, anyone in the path of totality is in for quite a treat on Monday afternoon.
Now, if you are wondering where the chances are higher for the clearest skies on Monday, please join us for the Skywarn Youth Net on Sunday evening starting at 7:30 p.m. Central on most of the Southwest Missouri Regional Skywarn Repeater Network repeaters and EchoLink Node N0NWS-R. Scott, KE6ITF, a credentialed meteorologist who specializes in agricultural forecasting in Oklahoma, will join us on the air with a special Eclipse Cloud Cover Forecast.
You can also visit the website of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Springfield, Missouri for their latest forecast updates for Monday by clicking here: http://www.weather.gov/sgf/
If you’re free on Monday and want to find where the exact path of totality will pass, you can use this neat Google Map application which plots the entire eclipse from coast to coast.
REMEMBER: Damage to your eyes from improperly looking at the sun is cumulative and lasting. Make sure to wear proper protective eyewear if you plan to look directly at the sun. Going outside and looking around at shadows and even up at the sky does not require protection. However, looking directly at the sun does!
We hope this is a fun and educational time for you and yours. We will get to do it all again in 2024!