When
choosing which general region to visit for the eclipse, most people
will likely choose to go to an area that interests them- an area that
has pretty scenery, fascinating museums, unique food, or other things
that make the area someplace that they would like to visit. Of course,
time and financial factors would be other reasons for choosing a certain
area. These are all excellent reasons for choosing where to go.
But there are other factors that could be considered when choosing where to go for the celestial show. It's a good idea to have several regions in mind, in case your first choice does not work out- or unless you're compelled to visit another area for another reason. Remember, you can spend the days leading up to and/or following the eclipse outside of the shadow path, but you must be in the path of totality when the eclipse is happening!
Family and Friends:
One thing to think about may be: "Where are my family members and friends interested in going?" It's certainly a good goal to try to get a large group of family members and/or friends to go together, but getting everyone to agree on the same area may prove to be a difficult task. Some may want to go to Oregon; some may want to go to Missouri; while others may want to go to North Carolina. The key here, in my opinion, is to make sure that everyone knows about the ENTIRE eclipse path. Sure, you can invite friends and family to join you where you choose to go- but make sure they know about the rest of the shadow path, so they can choose where to go if some other region interests them. If a friend or family member chooses to view the eclipse from a different location, you can always share stories later on (make sure that they travel to the path of totality!). Certainly, spouses should travel together. Children should travel with their parents (unless they're old enough to travel independently).
But there are other factors that could be considered when choosing where to go for the celestial show. It's a good idea to have several regions in mind, in case your first choice does not work out- or unless you're compelled to visit another area for another reason. Remember, you can spend the days leading up to and/or following the eclipse outside of the shadow path, but you must be in the path of totality when the eclipse is happening!
Family and Friends:
One thing to think about may be: "Where are my family members and friends interested in going?" It's certainly a good goal to try to get a large group of family members and/or friends to go together, but getting everyone to agree on the same area may prove to be a difficult task. Some may want to go to Oregon; some may want to go to Missouri; while others may want to go to North Carolina. The key here, in my opinion, is to make sure that everyone knows about the ENTIRE eclipse path. Sure, you can invite friends and family to join you where you choose to go- but make sure they know about the rest of the shadow path, so they can choose where to go if some other region interests them. If a friend or family member chooses to view the eclipse from a different location, you can always share stories later on (make sure that they travel to the path of totality!). Certainly, spouses should travel together. Children should travel with their parents (unless they're old enough to travel independently).
I'll give an example: Let's say a young married couple wants to go to Missouri. But what if each spouse's set of parents also want to see the eclipse? Maybe the husband's parents want to go to South Carolina, and the wife's parents want to go to Idaho. Should they all try to agree to go to the same area? In my opinion, not necessarily. If they CAN agree on where to go, that's great. That's one of the reasons for having several options in mind: perhaps a location that is your second choice happens to be the first choice of someone close to you. You could then potentially meet up with them for the eclipse. Ultimately, though, the goal should be to get people to go where they want to go.
In the above example, if that means that the young couple and each set of parents all end up in different areas, that's okay- as long as they all end up within the path of totality when the eclipse happens. They can all share stories about the eclipse and their vacations when they get back home. One exception, of course, would be if a close friend or family member is relying upon you to get them to the eclipse path (medical reasons, for example).
(By the way, I'll be posting more on spreading the word about this eclipse soon.)
Sentimental reasons:
You may have a personal connection with an area in the eclipse path. Perhaps you've lived there before. Perhaps you have relatives or close friends that live there. Perhaps you visited it when you were younger and want to visit it again.
Crowded areas:
Some
areas may be very crowded for the eclipse. Since the eclipse is on a
Monday, that could mean that these areas may be very crowded on the
Saturday and Sunday leading into eclipse day. This could mean: long
lines to get into museums and other interesting places, big crowds at
parks, long waits at restaurants, traffic jams, and more. If you don't
mind the crowds- or maybe you will even enjoy being part of them- then
you can potentially consider going to one of the areas that will likely
draw the biggest crowds. If you want to avoid the big crowds, then you
may want to consider going somewhere else for the eclipse- provided, of
course, you end up in the path of totality when the eclipse is
happening!
So where are these areas that are most likely to have the biggest crowds? Here they are, in west to east order:
1. The area between (and including) Portland and Salem, Oregon
2. The area
surrounding and including Jackson, Wyoming, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone
National Parks (note that Yellowstone is outside of the shadow path!)
3. Casper, Wyoming (there will be an astronomy conference there)
4. the
St. Louis area (the city will likely serve as a gateway to the eclipse
for many people)
5. The areas surrounding the towns of Carbondale,
Illinois and Hopkinsville, Kentucky (if you're on or very close to the
centerline of the eclipse path near these towns, you'll get the longest
possible total eclipse along the entire path (but don't let that fact be
the only reason you choose to go to those areas!))
6. Nashville, TN
7. The Smoky Mountains National Park area
8. Charleston, S.C.
If you really do want to go to one of these areas, but you want to avoid the crowds, you could go there before or after eclipse weekend- and drive a few hours to the east or west along the shadow path to a less crowded area for Saturday August 19 through Monday the 21st.
If you really do want to go to one of these areas, but you want to avoid the crowds, you could go there before or after eclipse weekend- and drive a few hours to the east or west along the shadow path to a less crowded area for Saturday August 19 through Monday the 21st.
If you do want to go to one of these areas, and you do want to visit them for eclipse weekend, then that means that it's important to act soon on at least asking about reservations for these areas.
The Weather:
Serious
eclipse chasers will, of course, use their safety and their finances as
their top factors in choosing where to go. They will also choose an
area that interests them. But they are- in many cases- willing to go to
an area that isn't the most interesting to them. Why? Because serious
eclipse chasers almost always use the weather as a factor. They ask the
following question: "Where are the highest chances for clear skies along
the eclipse path?"
This is an excellent website to check out: http://eclipsophile.com
Jay Anderson has created this website. He is a meteorologist from Canada, and he studies weather patterns for areas that experience total solar eclipses. Is the weather in a certain area typically clear, cloudy, or mixed? Does the time of day make a difference (some areas might tend to have clear skies in the morning and cloudier skies in the afternoon- or vice versa)? Eclipse chasers will frequently position themselves in an area that has a high chance for clear skies that time of year.
Notice on the page that Anderson has created for the 2017 eclipse:
http://eclipsophile.com/total-solar-eclipses/total-solar-eclipse-2017-august-21 :
This is an excellent website to check out: http://eclipsophile.com
Jay Anderson has created this website. He is a meteorologist from Canada, and he studies weather patterns for areas that experience total solar eclipses. Is the weather in a certain area typically clear, cloudy, or mixed? Does the time of day make a difference (some areas might tend to have clear skies in the morning and cloudier skies in the afternoon- or vice versa)? Eclipse chasers will frequently position themselves in an area that has a high chance for clear skies that time of year.
Notice on the page that Anderson has created for the 2017 eclipse:
http://eclipsophile.com/total-solar-eclipses/total-solar-eclipse-2017-august-21 :
- On the coast of Oregon, there is a fairly high chance for clouds (moisture coming in from the Pacific).
- Over the next few hundred miles along the shadow path, the valleys and plateaus in between the mountain ranges have some of the highest chances for clear skies that time of year.
- In the mountain ranges, though, the chances for clouds increases.
- As the shadow moves over the Great Plains of eastern Wyoming into Nebraska, the chances for clear skies remains high (but there is a chance for forest fire smoke in those areas, because they lie downwind from areas that may have fires that time of year).
- As the path continues to the east (starting in southeastern Nebraska), the general trend is an increased chance for clouds- primarily due to moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. (though there are certain areas in the Eastern half of the U.S. that have a slightly higher chance for clear skies).
But climate data does not predict what the weather will do on eclipse day: it just shows the general weather patterns for that time of year. The following has been stated many times on the eclipse chaser's discussion group: "Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get."
Later on, I'll be posting some suggestions on what you might want to consider doing if the weather forecast predicts clouds in the area that you're wanting to watch the eclipse. I will preface that post by saying: Be flexible!
Does anyone else have suggestions on what factors people may use to choose a region to experience the eclipse? If so, please leave them in the comments below.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment