As viewed from the GOES-17 weather satellite. Of course, the darkest area is the totality.   For comparison, 12:58pm. The eclipse, at 1:42pm. It is the dark area over Texas. The black area is the eclipse's shadow.  Eclipse 1:46pm. You can see the circular nature of the cloud cover.  The cirrus clouds over Mexico are already lightening as the shadow moves rapidly northeast.  1:52pm, the back edge of the eclipse shadow.  Color animation of the eclipse from above is here .  And, even an airplane can't outrun the eclipse .  This might be the plane.  Eclipse Shadows in Wichita (partial eclipse): BTW: so far, it appears the cloud forecasts have been excellent. Nice job, weather science!

The dark area on the left is night as the earth rotates to the right. The eclipse is causing the darkness in the tropical Pacific.  Cloud image from 11:26am, pre-eclipse. 

The brown area has a significant risk of tornadoes. The hatched area has a forecast hail 2" or larger. The red area has an enhanced  risk of giant hail.  The satellite image shows the entire path of the eclipse totality. As forecast, the central Mississippi Valley look good as does Maine.  It is three hours before totality in the U.S. and gridlock already exists. It is worse after the eclipse. 

We begin with cloud cover.  If you have friends or family interested in the eclipse, please refer them to this site.  Essentially, there are three types of clouds: cirrus (high clouds), "alto" (middle clouds) and cumulus (low clouds). Low clouds will completely blot out the eclipse. Most alto will, also. When it comes to cirrus clouds, it depends on the thickness. BTW, all of these photos are my own.  Here are examples: these are high thin cirrus clouds. They will not cause a problem except to, perhaps, make the corona more difficult to see. Below are cirrus clouds. The higher, thin cirrus clouds? Not much of a problem. The thicker cirrus will definitely dim the corona if one is between you and the sun. Below are relatively thin altostratus/altocumulus clouds. The sun is at upper left. While there is a lot of glare, the solar disc was not crisply visible  The lower, the thicker clouds will completely obscure the clouds.  The Cloud Forecasts This forecast was der...

The new ECMWF model's data is in. Little has changed with regard to the clouds over Texas and nearby areas.  --- original post below --- The eclipse is now within range of the more detailed computer models. This is the cloud cover forecast for 1pm CDT/2pm EDT along the path of the eclipse.  Using the ECMWF model, many of the clouds in Texas and Arkansas will be of the middle and high variety. If you are in the path of high cirrus clouds, you will probably be able to see the solar disc being covered by the moon but will probably not be able to see the corona and other aspects of the eclipse.  Unfortunately, mid-level clouds may be able to blot out much of the view.  There is an animation available for the Texas region with hour-by-hour clouds here . Unfortunately, it comes to the same conclusion (lots of clouds) using a different techniques.  Unfortunately, the yellow area has the potential for severe thunderstorms (large hail and damaging winds). The thunderstor...

Eclipse mixed with a risk of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.  The NWS Storm Prediction Center is predicting those conditions in the yellow area which coincides with the path of totality for the eclipse.  If you've never be in the path of totality, the traffic is total gridlock . While, climatologically, the severe thunderstorms usually don't develop until after the time of totality in that area, it is entirely possible they could develop before the eclipse has completely ended.  When I say total gridlock, that includes everything from major interstate to country roads.  Of course, I'll keep you updated. If this threat looks to grow, I'll provide you with detailed suggestions based on my experiences. 

If you are outside of the area of totality and you went to see something cool, look at the shadow of plants and objects on a white background such as a sidewalk. The shadows will look like the partially eclipsed sun.  Really. 

If you are planning to drive to the 2024 eclipse, the shortest drive from the northwest quarter of the country goes through Wichita. We'd be delighted to have you stay in town on your way to or from. You'll want to make your reservations early based on the experience with the last eclipse.