With the U.S. about to have its first total solar eclipse since 2017, many Americans might be wondering what the prospects are for viewing the celestial event.
Now that the event is days away, eclipse enthusiasts can visit the National Weather Service's cloud cover forecast and see the probability of clear skies for the afternoon of April 8.
Generally in early April, the Southwestern U.S. has a higher probability of clear skies than the Midwest and Northeast. But as of Wednesday, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire appear to have the best chance of clear skies.
Burlington, Vermont, is forecast to have 15% cloud cover on Monday afternoon. The city has 3 minutes, 19 seconds in totality during Monday's eclipse.
Cleveland, which is supposed to get about 3 minutes, 49 seconds of totality, is forecast to have 64% of its sky covered by clouds. Northeast Ohio also has the highest probability of precipitation along the path of totality. Cleveland currently has about a 30% chance of rain Monday afternoon.
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Cloud cover is looking more favorable in the Ozarks as about a third of the sky could be obscured by clouds. Areas around San Antonio and Austin, Texas, could see at least half the sky covered by clouds.
Areas in and around Dallas have about a 1-in-4 chance of rain Monday afternoon.
Several eclipse chasers have told Scripps News that they have planned to view the eclipse from Texas.
"The reason we chose Fredericksburg (Texas) is because it's got pretty good weather prospects," eclipse mapmaker Michael Zeiler said last month. "It's right in the center of the path, but another key factor about Fredericksburg is its six highways radiating out of that gem. So if eclipse morning presents patchy clouds, we've got six directions that we could choose to relocate."
Although the total eclipse will span a nearly 100-mile swath from the Southwest to the Northeast, the entire contiguous U.S. will experience a partial solar eclipse. The forecast as of Wednesday is calling for generally clearer skies along much of the East Coast and California.
