What is everyone using for eclipse maps? I’ve been using this one from the National Solar Observatory. There’s also the NASA map, this one, and NYT’s cloud cover map.
This site is made possible by member support. โค๏ธ
Big thanks to Arcustech for hosting the site and offering amazing tech support.
When you buy through links on kottke.org, I may earn an affiliate commission. Thanks for supporting the site!
kottke.org. home of fine hypertext products since 1998.
What is everyone using for eclipse maps? I’ve been using this one from the National Solar Observatory. There’s also the NASA map, this one, and NYT’s cloud cover map.
Comments 9
thread
latest
popular
The Time and Date map looks good too.
Came across this one the other day which looks great for checking cloud coverage https://www.windy.com/
More on this page: https://eclipsophile.com/eclipse-day-weather/
https://www.precisioneclipse.com from the folks behind the Mathematica software platform is quite useful. There is also a very deep dive into the non-trivial math behind predicting eclipses and their locations linked there as well: When Exactly Will the Eclipse Happen? A Multimillenium Tale of Computation
For weather, pivotal has a great eclipse page, I like the American cloud thickness maps. Read their comments on how to interpret the thickness percentages as not obvious. Also clouds are blue and clear is white. https://www.pivotalweather.com/eclipse2024/?m=gefsens&p=blockedinsol_tle_2-mean&r=conus
As I understand it, the European models are considered the best, then American, then Canadian. Sadly I have been living on this page as I live under the path in Texas and we look screwed. It is bad to complain about rain here, but sigh. Vermont looks great! Congrats.
For timing, amateur astronomers rely on this somewhat confusing app. I used it in 2017 and it does work well but do a dry run once or twice to make sure you get the notifications. It is built for photography but the voice notices are useful. Uses GPS to get to the second accuracy.
https://www.solareclipsetimer.com/
Honestly, nobody stay home and miss it just because the skies aren't ideal, the totality of an eclipse is amazing no matter what the sky is doing, short of a thunderstorm or tornado.
This was exactly the comment I needed to read on Sunday driving down to OH/IN from MI. I just stopped anxiously analyzing every cloud and took a deep breath. It all worked out wonderfully. Thank you, Bill!
The Waffle House eclipse map and a map of the Airbnb & Vrbo bookings on April 7.
The NYTimes cloud cover served me very well. It guided me to NE Vermont (original plan was Niagra Falls) and we had an amazing and cloudless experience!
Hello! In order to comment or fave, you need to be a current kottke.org member. If you'd like to sign up for a membership to support the site and join the conversation, you can explore your options here.
Existing members can sign in here. If you're a former member, you can renew your membership.
Note: If you are a member and tried to log in, it didn't work, and now you're stuck in a neverending login loop of death, try disabling any ad blockers or extensions that you have installed on your browser...sometimes they can interfere with the Memberful links. Still having trouble? Email me!
In order to comment or fave, you need to be a current kottke.org member. Check out your options for renewal.
This is the name that'll be displayed next to comments you make on kottke.org; your email will not be displayed publicly. I'd encourage you to use your real name (or at least your first name and last initial) but you can also pick something that you go by when you participate in communities online. Choose something durable and reasonably unique (not "Me" or "anon"). Please don't change this often. No impersonation.
Note: I'm letting folks change their display names because the membership service that kottke.org uses collects full names and I thought some people might not want their names displayed publicly here. If it gets abused, I might disable this feature.
If you feel like this comment goes against the grain of the community guidelines or is otherwise inappropriate, please let me know and I will take a look at it.
Hello! In order to leave a comment, you need to be a current kottke.org member. If you'd like to sign up for a membership to support the site and join the conversation, you can explore your options here.
Existing members can sign in here. If you're a former member, you can renew your membership.
Note: If you are a member and tried to log in, it didn't work, and now you're stuck in a neverending login loop of death, try disabling any ad blockers or extensions that you have installed on your browser...sometimes they can interfere with the Memberful links. Still having trouble? Email me!