Monday April 8th’s forecast:
Our string of beautiful weather ends this weekend as clouds begin to move into southeast Texas. Sunday our first round of rain arrives and thick clouds as well as rain will stick around Monday.
The problem Monday:
The front that brings rain Monday stalls over southeast Texas. This front will initiate rain early Monday afternoon in Houston. The prospects for seeing the partial eclipse in Houston is small. Even without the rain, the clouds may be too thick to see through them to see the moon and the sun. The hope is there are a few breaks in the clouds to be able to see the partial eclipse.
If you are traveling to the path of totality:
All is not lost if you are traveling to the path of totality this weekend. Weather models have consistently shown thicker clouds south of totality between noon and 2:00 PM. Right now it looks like the path will have gaps in the clouds that will allow totality to be seen. The farther north you are along the the better chance for some clearing. Starting tonight the short range, high resolution models can be seen. This will help us forecasters determine what the breaks look like and what time of clouds will be over the totality path. I’ll be in Fredericksburg, Texas Monday and the key time for us is 1:33 PM to 1:37 PM.
The types of clouds are important:
The worst-case scenario is from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm April 8th we have low stratus clouds. These clouds will completely block out the sun and your total solar eclipse experience will be hopeless. It will get dark during totality, but it will be similar to what it looks like when a strong storm is getting close.
Mid-level cumulus clouds – Depending where you are seeing the eclipse totality will last from one to nearly four and a half minutes. Cumulus clouds have openings but sometimes the clouds will block the eclipse. This will be incredibly frustrating! You’ll feel the clock ticking away. When the clouds cover the sun, look away from the eclipse, and look at the clouds along the horizon. The clouds will change colors and the horizon in all directions will look like a sunset. When the clouds move away look back at the sun.
High-level cirrus clouds – While not perfectly clear, these clouds are thin enough that you’ll be able to experience totality.