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Huge crowds await a total solar eclipse in North America. Clouds may spoil the view

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ECLIPSE? ANTOINETTE THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT THEY NEED TO GET THOSE SUNGLASSES. EXCUSE ME? THE SOLAR ECLIPSE GLASSES, THE SUNGLASSES. THEY’RE NOT GOING TO CUT IT TODAY. SO AGAIN, YOU GOT TO BE PREPARED IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THE LAST MINUTE. I ACTUALLY HAVE THREE PAIRS. SO MY DMS ARE OPEN IN MY PRICES. THEY ARE VERY REASONABLE. AND THE REASON YOU HAVE TO DO THAT IS BECAUSE DOCTORS SAY JUST A LITTLE BIT OF LOOKING INTO THE SUN CAN REALLY CAUSE SOME DAMAGE. THE THOUSANDS, THE SUNGLASSES, EXCUSE ME, THE SOLAR ECLIPSE GLASSES, THEY ARE THOUSANDS OF TIMES DARKER THAN THE DARKEST SUNGLASSES. AND THEY DO COMPLY WITH THE ISO STANDARD. A RETINA SPECIALIST WITH MASS EYE AND EAR SAYS EVEN A QUICK GLANCE AT THE ECLIPSE CAN CAUSE EYE DAMAGE IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT GEAR. SO NO MATTER YOUR AGE, THE SUNLIGHT CAN BE EXTREMELY DAMAGING. IF YOU DO STARE AT THE SUN, YOU’RE GOING TO GET A CRESCENT SHAPED BRANDING OF THE SHAPE OF THE SUN BURNED INTO THE LIGHT SENSING CELLS IN YOUR RETINA, AND IT CAN CAUSE PERMANENT VISION LOSS IN THAT AREA. SO. SO FOR PEOPLE LIKE UP KELLY ANN IN THE PATH OF TOTALITY, THEY DON’T NEED THE SOLAR ECLIPSE GLASSES. DURING THAT BRIEF TOTAL PHASE OF THE ECLIPSE. BUT FOR THOSE OF US HERE IN BOSTON, YOU GOT TO KEEP THOSE GLASSES ON THE WHOLE TIME TODAY. AND IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT. PARENTS, TO REMIND THAT TO THE CHILDREN, SOME SCHOOL DISTRICTS, THEY ARE DOING SOME ADJUSTED POTENTIAL RELEASES TO ALLOW THOSE KIDS TO SEE THIS. BUT AGAIN, YOU GOT TO EXPRESS TO THOSE EXCITED CHILDREN THEY GOT TO KEEP THOSE GLASSES ON HERE IN BOSTON THE ENTIRE TIME. RE

Huge crowds await a total solar eclipse in North America. Clouds may spoil the view

Millions of spectators along a narrow corridor stretching from Mexico to the U.S. to Canada eagerly awaited Monday’s celestial sensation – a total eclipse of the sun – even as forecasters called for clouds.What to know: An estimated 32 million people across the U.S. live within the path of totality, or locations where the moon will completely block the face of the sun from view for a few moments.It will take just 1 hour and 40 minutes for the moon’s shadow to race more than 4,000 miles across the continent.Clear skies are only promised in northern New England to Canada. During the eclipse, the moon will pass in front of the sun and obscure it for up to 4 1/2 minutes.The rest of North America will see a partial eclipse, weather permitting.The best weather was expected at the tail end of the eclipse in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as New Brunswick and Newfoundland in Canada.It promised to be North America’s biggest eclipse crowd ever, thanks to the densely populated path and the lure of more than four minutes of midday darkness in Texas and other choice spots. Almost everyone in North America was guaranteed at least a partial eclipse, weather permitting. The show gets underway in the Pacific shortly before noon EDT.Video above: Total solar eclipse informationIn Texas, the south-central region was locked in clouds, but it was a little bit better to the northeast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Snell.”Dallas is pretty much a 50-50 shot,” he said.The cliff-hanging uncertainty added to the drama. But the overcast skies in Mesquite near Dallas didn’t rattle Erin Froneberger, who was in town for business and brought along her eclipse glasses.”We are always just rushing, rushing, rushing,” she said. “But this is an event that we can just take a moment, a few seconds that it’s going to happen and embrace it.”Sara Laneau, of Westfield, Vermont, woke up at 4 a.m. Monday to bring her 16-year-old niece to nearby Jay Peak ski resort to catch the eclipse after a morning on the slopes.”This will be a first from me and an experience of a lifetime,” said Laneau, who was dressed in a purple metallic ski suit with a solar eclipse T-shirt underneath.At Niagara Falls State Park, tourists streamed in under cloudy skies with wagons, strollers, coolers and lawn chairs. Park officials expected a large crowd at the popular site overlooking the falls.Video above: Preview before the eclipse in Erie, PennsylvaniaFor Monday’s full eclipse, the moon was due to slip right in front of the sun, entirely blocking it. The resulting twilight, with only the sun’s outer atmosphere or corona visible, would be long enough for birds and other animals to fall silent, and for planets, stars and maybe even a comet to pop out.The out-of-sync darkness lasts up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds. That’s almost twice as long as it was during the U.S. coast-to-coast eclipse seven years ago because the moon is closer to Earth. It will be another 21 years before the U.S. sees another total solar eclipse on this scale.Extending five hours from the first bite out of the sun to the last, Monday’s eclipse begins in the Pacific and makes landfall at Mazatlan, Mexico, before moving into Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and 12 other U.S. states in the Midwest, Middle Atlantic and New England, and then Canada. Last stop: Newfoundland, with the eclipse ending in the North Atlantic.It will take just 1 hour, 40 minutes for the moon’s shadow to race more than 4,000 miles across the continent.Eye protection is needed with proper eclipse glasses and filters to look at the sun, except when it ducks completely out of sight during an eclipse.The path of totality – approximately 115 miles wide – encompasses several major cities this time, including Dallas; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Buffalo, New York; and Montreal. An estimated 44 million people live within the track, with a couple hundred million more within 200 miles. Add in all the eclipse chasers, amateur astronomers, scientists and just plain curious, and it’s no wonder the hotels and flights are sold out and the roads jammed.Experts from NASA and scores of universities are posted along the route, poised to launch research rockets and weather balloons, and conduct experiments. The International Space Station’s seven astronauts also will be on the lookout, 270 miles up.

Millions of spectators along a narrow corridor stretching from Mexico to the U.S. to Canada eagerly awaited Monday’s celestial sensation – a total eclipse of the sun – even as forecasters called for clouds.

What to know:

  • An estimated 32 million people across the U.S. live within the path of totality, or locations where the moon will completely block the face of the sun from view for a few moments.
  • It will take just 1 hour and 40 minutes for the moon’s shadow to race more than 4,000 miles across the continent.
  • Clear skies are only promised in northern New England to Canada. During the eclipse, the moon will pass in front of the sun and obscure it for up to 4 1/2 minutes.
  • The rest of North America will see a partial eclipse, weather permitting.

The best weather was expected at the tail end of the eclipse in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as New Brunswick and Newfoundland in Canada.

It promised to be North America’s biggest eclipse crowd ever, thanks to the densely populated path and the lure of more than four minutes of midday darkness in Texas and other choice spots. Almost everyone in North America was guaranteed at least a partial eclipse, weather permitting. The show gets underway in the Pacific shortly before noon EDT.

Video above: Total solar eclipse information

In Texas, the south-central region was locked in clouds, but it was a little bit better to the northeast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Snell.

“Dallas is pretty much a 50-50 shot,” he said.

The cliff-hanging uncertainty added to the drama. But the overcast skies in Mesquite near Dallas didn’t rattle Erin Froneberger, who was in town for business and brought along her eclipse glasses.

“We are always just rushing, rushing, rushing,” she said. “But this is an event that we can just take a moment, a few seconds that it’s going to happen and embrace it.”

Sara Laneau, of Westfield, Vermont, woke up at 4 a.m. Monday to bring her 16-year-old niece to nearby Jay Peak ski resort to catch the eclipse after a morning on the slopes.

“This will be a first from me and an experience of a lifetime,” said Laneau, who was dressed in a purple metallic ski suit with a solar eclipse T-shirt underneath.

At Niagara Falls State Park, tourists streamed in under cloudy skies with wagons, strollers, coolers and lawn chairs. Park officials expected a large crowd at the popular site overlooking the falls.

Video above: Preview before the eclipse in Erie, Pennsylvania

For Monday’s full eclipse, the moon was due to slip right in front of the sun, entirely blocking it. The resulting twilight, with only the sun’s outer atmosphere or corona visible, would be long enough for birds and other animals to fall silent, and for planets, stars and maybe even a comet to pop out.

The out-of-sync darkness lasts up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds. That’s almost twice as long as it was during the U.S. coast-to-coast eclipse seven years ago because the moon is closer to Earth. It will be another 21 years before the U.S. sees another total solar eclipse on this scale.

Extending five hours from the first bite out of the sun to the last, Monday’s eclipse begins in the Pacific and makes landfall at Mazatlan, Mexico, before moving into Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and 12 other U.S. states in the Midwest, Middle Atlantic and New England, and then Canada. Last stop: Newfoundland, with the eclipse ending in the North Atlantic.

It will take just 1 hour, 40 minutes for the moon’s shadow to race more than 4,000 miles across the continent.

Eye protection is needed with proper eclipse glasses and filters to look at the sun, except when it ducks completely out of sight during an eclipse.

The path of totality – approximately 115 miles wide – encompasses several major cities this time, including Dallas; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Buffalo, New York; and Montreal. An estimated 44 million people live within the track, with a couple hundred million more within 200 miles. Add in all the eclipse chasers, amateur astronomers, scientists and just plain curious, and it’s no wonder the hotels and flights are sold out and the roads jammed.

Experts from NASA and scores of universities are posted along the route, poised to launch research rockets and weather balloons, and conduct experiments. The International Space Station’s seven astronauts also will be on the lookout, 270 miles up.

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