Anyone going to see the Eclipse?

[Samson]

A total solar eclipse will take place on Monday, August 21, 2017. It is crossing the United States of America, with totallity at 10:18 AM in Salem, Oregon and 1:16 in Charleston, South Carolina. The maximum point of the eclipse will take place near Hopkinsville, Kentucky at 18:20 UTC, which is 1:20 pm local time. Here, totality will last for 2 minutes and 40 seconds. This is the first total eclipse of the Sun visible from the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) since February 26, 1979. The last time a total eclipse was visible from coast to coast was on June 8, 1918. Does anyone have any plans to try and see it?

I am aiming to be in San Francisco during the middle of August, and am looking at possibilities to have a layover somewhere on the way back to the UK so I can see it. Is anyone aware of any online forums that could help with my travel plans? Any thoughts about my trip? Anyone know if Hopkinsville, Kentucky is a tourist spot or somewhere to be avoided? I guess what I really want is a maximum chance of a clear sky. Anyone any suggestions about how to work that out?

[EDIT]
Cloudiness along the route. The Columbia basin or just west of Yellowstone for the win?

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Murica n°1 eclipse.

 

[really]

Your globe suggests I will see a small part of it. I don't think I will be travelling for it.

 

[Zelig]

Looked into it, but flights in North America are so expensive, and the US border so unpleasant, that I may as well just wait for the next eclipse on a different continent, fly to that one, and get a vacation on top of it since I'll be there anyway.

 

[Borachio]

Eclipses are OK. Everyone should definitely see one.

But I don't feel any need to see another. They just, you know, happen. And then they're over.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I want to go see it but haven't made any firm plans. I think the best viewing opportunities will likely be in the desert areas along it's path. I would avoid both Oregon and Kentucky for this one due to a high likelihood of cloudy skies though of course I can't predict the weather.

 

[Farm Boy]

Going to go visit a friend south of St. Louis. Looking forward to it!

 

[CKS]

Hopkinsville has been preparing for the eclipse for a long time, but I don't know anything else about it. In terms of clouds, it doesn't look great, and I don't think it is so easy to get to by air. Unless you want to drive a lot, St. Louis is probably the best layover option. The cloud cover isn't great, but it could be worse, and the eclipse will be visible from the south side of the city - you could take public transportation from the airport if you didn't want to rent a car. If you are up for driving, then the Columbia basin looks good.

I'm near St. Louis, so I'll be heading just a bit south to watch it. The physical science department is planning a field trip to Red Bud, IL (we have a campus there), so it will make for an interesting start to the semester - it is our first day of the semester. I'm going to pull the kids out of school for it. Their school is about two miles just outside of totality, as is our current house. Our old one is expecting about 30s of darkness.

Around here, Carbondale is being pushed as the place to go, so I'm hopeful that the masses will avoid the smaller towns south of here and all go there. I've overheard some people from Redbud making plans to go to Carbondale - they'll get about 2 s more darkness, and 1% worse chance of clouds.

When I was a grad student, we had an annular eclipse, but this is my first chance for a total eclipse, and I'm pretty excited. If the weather doesn't cooperate, though, another one will be here in just a few years (2024). I don't think I'm up for traveling much to see one.

 

[Berzerker]

looks like i'm less than 50mi from totality and late august is usually hot and clear around here... saw one out in Utah around '89, almost an immediate drop of 12-15 degrees as the sky went dark and stars became visible

but I beat the sacred drum to scare the wolf away and the sun god returned to illuminate the world

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It'll be a partial eclipse here, so I don't plan to go anywhere. It should be online anyway, so people can follow along.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I've been under a total eclipse before and it was pretty cool. this time Albuquerque will at 75% so i will just enjoy that. Clear skies pretty guaranteed. My daughter is in St. Louis so she will get totality.

 

[Perfection]

Will be driving to St. Louis with my dad to see it.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I'm at about 65% just walking out the door, and that's adequate for me.

 

[warpus]

My plan is to start driving from Lincoln City, Oregon as soon as the eclipse hits and drive in the shade until I reach South Carolina.

Wish me luck

 

[Samson]

If what I cared about was flying as little as possible I would do San Francisco - Denver, then drive 3 hours up the I - 25 to see the eclipse, then head back to Denver, then fly straight to London. That is really expensive, but I can do it with a stop in Iceland on the way back for about 300 pounds more than the flight without the stop to watch it. There must be a way with the extra flight to accommodate it.
[EDIT]
About the best place on the weather chart above is Riverton Wyoming. This is also right in the middle of the eclipse path and about 6 hours from Denver. This is an indigenous peoples reservation with at least 4 casinos. They all have websites, not one has an eclipse advert on there home pages. Someone needs to tell their marketing people.

 

[Birdjaguar]

My plan is to start driving from Lincoln City, Oregon as soon as the eclipse hits and drive in the shade until I reach South Carolina.

Wish me luck

Good luck with that. If you drive a convertible, you'll need an umbrella to stay in the shade past Portland.

 

[warpus]

I don't actually drive anything, but how fast would I have to be moving to keep up with the eclipse anyway? Assuming that there is a straight road from Lincoln City to Charleston

 

[Birdjaguar]

Doesn't the earth spin at about 1000 mph? From the map it looks like about 4-5 hours from totality in Oregon to totality in CS. But I didn't look too closely.

 

[Samson]

I don't actually drive anything, but how fast would I have to be moving to keep up with the eclipse anyway? Assuming that there is a straight road from Lincoln City to Charleston

• 2955mph in Western Oregon
• 1747mph in central Nebraska
• 1462mph in Western Kentucky
• 1502mph near Charleston SC

It moves faster the further from the equator it is. I seem to remember that when the last one in the UK happened, and Concord was still flying, you could get a trip on that and it would stay in totality as long as possible. It was significantly longer, but not close to staying in it.

 

[warpus]

Okay so.. change of plans.. I am going to watch the eclipse on TV