Will You Be Able to See the Annular Solar Eclipse?

On Saturday morning, an annular eclipse will be occurring over the western U.S., with the greatest sun loss passing across southern Oregon.

But will clouds get in the way?   That is the topic of this blog.

Annular eclipses occur when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, covering only part of the solar disk.   Not nearly as moving as a total eclipse, but still dramatic once about 90% of the sun is covered.

Below is a map of the path of the annular eclipse on Saturday.  More than 90% of the sun will be covered over southwest Oregon, with Seattle at around 80%.   The action will be at around 9:15 AM that morning.

The question is whether clouds will be in the way, and where will be the best locations (if any) to watch the sun fade away.

So let’s check the latest model runs and see what we can expect.

The UW model prediction of a simulated satellite image at 9 AM Satarudy suggests a thin veil of clouds over southwest Oregon, but the potential for seeing the eclipse on the central Oregon coast or southwest Oregon.   Western Washington it will be hit or miss

The cloud field at the same time from the European Center model is generally similar (the blue areas are the least cloudy).   If I were going eclipse hunting,  I would probably head to Bend, Oregon on Friday night and view the latest models that evening before deciding exactly where to go.   SE Oregon looks like a good shot at this point

If any of you get good pictures of the event, please send them along.  Would love to see them.