Today, we had a rare opportunity to witness the solar eclipse in the United States. This year’s total solar eclipse is only visible in North America and parts of South America. The path of totality is about 70-mile wide starting from Salem, Oregon and ending near Charleston, South Carolina… crossing 14 states of the contiguous United States. This is the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in the United States in 99 years.
Minnesota is not within the path of totality but we were able to see up to 85% obscuration of the solar eclipse. Although it rained in the morning, the sky quickly cleared up at noon and all of us were very fortunate to witness this event between 11:45 AM to 1:30 PM with maximum eclipse at 1:08 PM. The clouds quickly rolled in after that and it rained an hour later.
I initially didn’t plan to take any pictures, but decided to lug my camera to work at the last minute. The next total solar eclipse will be visible in the United States on April 8, 2024… this time, passing through Mexico, the central US and east Canada.