My eclipse adventure was a COMPLETE BUST

[AZ8theist]

I traveled 15 hours from Arizona to San Antonio.
Captured a couple of pictures of partiality but thick clouds obscured totality.
It was interesting the combination of dark clouds and totality......very dark and fascinating.

My congratulations to those who got to witness the event and take those incredible pictures....

Alas......I struck out.

[Dear_Prudence]

1. Condolences.

Astronomy is a cruel mistress.

[Maeve]

2. So sorry.. went about 50 minutes drive and got clear skies

Totality was amazing and I'm glad I saw it once in my life.
Hubby got a pic, just like so many others, but it was the experience that made it worth the drive.

[AZ8theist]

4. Thanks

Maybe this will motivate me to travel to Iceland and Europe for the one in 2026, I believe...

[Maeve]

9. Forgive if i sounded less than empathetic

I hadn't planned to make the short trip we had to totality but am so glad Hubby insisted. It hit me harder than expected

[AZ8theist]

16. No worries!!

I had very low expectations knowing the weather forecast. I'm very happy you got the experience you did! It's an awesome celestial phenomenon!! I think it helps make humans realize that we are pretty insignificant when it comes to the universe. Perhaps it will help people understand the need to take care of our terrestrial home before it's too late.....

[wnylib]

3. I live in the totality zone. We got lucky and unlucky.

The sky was solid slate gray all morning. Looked like it would rain. But then clouds formed and about 20 minutes after the very beginning of the partial phases, the clouds parted like a curtain and we got to see the phases progress right down to a sliver of sun, creating a colorful sunset effect on the horizon.

But, alas, 4 minutes before totality a huge, thick, dark cloud covered the eclipse so we missed seeing the corona, stars, and planets. Hawks circled high overhead as darkness began. Streetlights came on and it got dark as midnight for about 3 minutes. Wind kicked up and it got chilly. Ducks from a nearby river squawked up a storm and sounded very agitated.

Then as darkness first started to lift, birds chirped everywhere like it was dawn.

Disappointing to miss the corona, but still an awesome experience.

[MyOwnPeace]

14. Nice report.......

glad you were able to make the most of your experience - no matter what the weather threw at you!

[wnylib]

18. The weather looked so bad in the begining that

we considered ourselves lucky to see and experience what we were able to.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. We've had a generally overcast system for weeks in Maine. Yesterday and today were perfect weather, No clouds.

Full 7 minute total eclipse.

[spike jones]

6. I live in the Seattle area.

Solar and luna eclipse, meteor showers, comets, and northern lights sightings are things that happen somewhere else.

[electric_blue68]

17. 🤔 As far as the Aurora goes re Seattle: could it be a light.polution problem because around 48+ yrs ago my dad was....

visiting Seattle on business trip to the regonal manager there and saw the Aurora B.

[spike jones]

20. I live many miles north of Seattle and it is mainly a cloud problem.

[Oneironaut]

7. If it's any consolation, at least you weren't mid-1700's Astronomer Guilliame Le Gentil

- Traveled to try and see the transit of Venus across the sun, instead gets blown off course and misses it
- Instead waits in India for 8 years to see the next one
- The day that it happens ends up being cloudy
- Returns home to realize none of his letters back made it, his wife remarried, and the state declared him legally dead.

[MyOwnPeace]

15. HA!!!! That almost sounds like......

some sort of 'Saturday Nite Live' skit - but ONLY the truth! Great reporting - thanks!

[moonscape]

8. In Feb 1979 we drove

to Northern Oregon, Southern WA to see the eclipse. Am fuzzy on the details as to where my partner had researched for the best place that wouldn‘t be crazy-crowded and where we could get a reservation close enough to drive the rest of the way. Or something. Long time ago.

Drove up from CA and the weather was awful. Overcast, predictions it would be a bust. So the next morning, exhausted from the night before, we decided to bag the herculean effort ahead of us to drive to the spot he had planned, and sleep in.

We had a day of doing other things but I still remember the next morning’s paper headline, something to the effect “Clouds miraculously part for eclipse!”

[OldBaldy1701E]

10. Yeah, we were hoping for a partial one here in MN.

But, it was completely overcast and dreary. Oh well. Next one is in 2026.

[DemocraticPatriot]

11. I slept through it.

Saw some good pictures of it after I woke up, on my newsapp "SmartNews"...

Possibly I am inspired to reread "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court",
if I can locate it within my 9 large plastic totes of books.....

[William Seger]

12. I cancelled my trip to Texas because of the weather forecasts

I don't know how it turned out where I was going (Buchanan Lake near Marble Falls), but it was just too risky for a 12-hour drive each way and the 4-night minimum at the campground.

[LeftInTX]

13. I'm so sorry. I live in San Antonio. I went to Boerne 30 miles up I-10.

It had a bit better cloud forecast than SA and longer totality time. My son lives there. We had made plans to visit them about two months ago due to the longer totality time. I also bought my grandson an eclipse tee shirt etc.
Barely saw anything, except we saw the beautiful corona along with the pink solar flare for a second or so. That was all I wanted to see anyhow. (I had seen everything else during the October 2023 annular eclipse )

My poor grandson fortunately, had a cousin to play with. He's a smart kid, but only six and clouds are clouds. He did enjoy when it got dark and was stunned when he saw the corona. I hope he remembers it!

My friend went to a bar in Bandera. I don't know if it had better visibility than Boerne.

Alot of people went to Kerrville. The parking in Kerrville was $50-$100. They did see the corona in Kerrville.

_____________

I was joking about the cloud cover with family members: "We're seeing an eclipse of the eclipse"

[Ms. Toad]

19. Walked across the street to sit in my neighbor's driveway.

The anticipated clouds never appeared. It was a once in a lifetime event - not to be missed!