Eclipse Day Cloud Coverage Model at T-36 Hours
Greetings from a very cloudy San Antonio!
This is going to be a relatively short post because I need to get on with my day; however, there are a couple of updates based on the new information I want to pass along.
First of all, the forecast for Ohio has significantly improved, so take a sigh of relief if you are headed there.
Second, there are pockets around Dallas which some models are viewing quite favorably - we’ll get into that with our Texas breakdown below.
T-36 Hours Mean
Links to the original content:
https://weather.us/model-charts/euro/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
https://weather.us/model-charts/gfs-hd/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
https://weather.us/model-charts/german/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
https://weather.us/model-charts/can/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
https://weather.us/model-charts/aus/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
https://weather.us/model-charts/jpn/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
https://weather.us/model-charts/french/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
https://weather.us/model-charts/cma/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
https://weather.us/model-charts/can-regional/usa/total-cloud-coverage/20240408-1800z.html
Beyond the improvement to Ohio I mentioned earlier, not much has changed between runs which is telling me the forecasts are starting to get locked in.
As stated last post, it looks like Maine and Quebec are going to be the “winners” this go-around.
However…
T-36 Mean with Reference Line
… besides San Antonio (where I am, of course) and Upstate New York there is definitely the option of driving to a clear viewing location along most of the line of totality, which is great news. See the maximum forecast model below (yellow means at least one model is forecasting a clear day).
T-36 Hours Maximum
As per usual, there are still a couple of pessimistic models calling for cloud cover nearly everywhere along the zone of totality, as you can see with the forecasted minimum map (where black indicates where at least one model calls for total cloud cover):
T-36 Hours Minimum
This model remains mostly unchanged besides universal agreement now that parts of Arkansas will have a clear day.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: the key will be flexibility on eclipse day, and you can read how to maximize your chances of success in my how-to guide: How to Choose a Solar Eclipse Viewing Location.
Since many of you are in Texas with me, let’s take a look at the Texas mean forecast:
T-36 Mean (Texas)
Very unfortunately for me, San Antonio is looking like a wash. However, since I follow my own advice and plan for contingencies, I’m still hopeful I will see totality tomorrow.
Where you may ask? Well, there are two pockets which may be favorable: the first is north of Austin (in the Fort Cavazos area), and the second is east of Dallas.
Let’s take a look at the Texas maximum map where you can really see this better:
T-36 Maximum (Texas)
And now the minimum (which I must warn was made without the couple of models which don’t show total cloud cover):
T-36 Minimum (Texas)
Tomorrow is going to be wild and I am looking forward to it!
I am going to issue one more update this evening (probably between 1800 and 1900 U.S. Eastern Daylight Time) and maybe a very quick version in the morning (will depend if I am driving to Dallas or not!)
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