Total eclipse coming, 8 April 2024!
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I live on the edge of totality but I'm considering driving 50 miles away to have more time in totality. I've already got the glasses and camera filter. I need to test the camera filter in the next few days. I was thinking even a Home Depot parking lot would be good for viewing the eclipse but I wonder if the lights would come on during totality. If I drive 50 miles out it would be mostly farmland, probably easy enough to find a place to park off of the road.
it'll be worth the drive to get 3+ minutes instead of just 1 minute... if you don't get stuck in traffic!
i doubt streetlights will turn on, it's not that dark.
I'm getting in practice! I took this on 3/27 with my Nikon P610, and older (2015) consumer super-zoom (1440 mm equivalent). I just hand-held it, but I was surprised that I had to step the exposure back 2 steps with my new screw-on filter.
You made me go outside and try the filter we just got from B&H for our Lumix. Not so many sunspots today, but I did manage to get a couple of "OK" images. Will need to practice more before we leave next week.
They had on the news tonight even Super 8 motels were charging $1,000 a night
stealth6
insert witty tagline here
I'm travelling many hours to south/central Texas (from southern Colorado), 10-12 hours driving in "normal" conditions.
And the weather is looking like it's going to be..................................................absolute crap, just awful.
Forecast for the last week or so, and getting worse every day, is for the entire state to be under thick cloud cover.
Yuck.
I'm still going for it, no change in plans.
Just going to take my chances (and brace for it to be a complete fail).
In practical terms there's no real way to doing anything but go for it and cross my fingers, or give up trying altogether.
Travelling further is not going to work...it's already "too far" as it is.
If I do try to watch the weather precisely and attempt to chase any holes in the sky, the traffic will likely make that pretty much impossible to do.
Ain't no way I'm going to find any other camping/hotel/etc. accommodations this late in the game, and even if I do they'd be way, WAY out of my price range. (Hobie1dog is correct...I've checked and anything at all that even might be available, even places to just pitch a tent, are going for that much $$ and more).
Wish me luck.....I'm very much going to need it.
s6
And the weather is looking like it's going to be..................................................absolute crap, just awful.
Forecast for the last week or so, and getting worse every day, is for the entire state to be under thick cloud cover.
Yuck.
I'm still going for it, no change in plans.
Just going to take my chances (and brace for it to be a complete fail).
In practical terms there's no real way to doing anything but go for it and cross my fingers, or give up trying altogether.
Travelling further is not going to work...it's already "too far" as it is.
If I do try to watch the weather precisely and attempt to chase any holes in the sky, the traffic will likely make that pretty much impossible to do.
Ain't no way I'm going to find any other camping/hotel/etc. accommodations this late in the game, and even if I do they'd be way, WAY out of my price range. (Hobie1dog is correct...I've checked and anything at all that even might be available, even places to just pitch a tent, are going for that much $$ and more).
Wish me luck.....I'm very much going to need it.
s6
We're all in the same boat. At a minimum we should see a cloudy day turn just about nighttime for a few minutes, but I'm hoping we all get a break in the clouds at the right time.
so what are you going to do?
Several users are going to miss it because of clouds. We had club members going to Texas, but the weather took over.
stealth6
insert witty tagline here
Scrambling at the moment.
For right now, I'm planning on just going for it, no change in plans.
But seeing what my options might be.
There does look like a small window of possibly cloudless area in the bottom/east corner of Oklahoma....adding about 2 hours of driving for me, which is technically doable (14+ hours each way, as opposed to 12+). I'm scouring the internet to see if there are any camping/hotel possibilities in the area. There are some, but most are starting at about $350 and going up from there. I have found two that are cheaper (one by quite a bit) and I'm investigating further to see if they are actually available (and at the stated price). This is all of course assuming that the cloud cover forecasts are anywhere near what the reality is going to be on the day....but there's no way to actually know that until it happens. By which time it will be too late to change. So all I can do is trust in those forecasts and perhaps lessen my chances of the whole thing being a bust. Still looks like a crap shoot at best.
Either way, I start driving east/south tomorrow morning.
I'm bringing (as I always do) my fishing gear, so the worst case scenario is I drive a LONG way to a fish some stream or two I find along the way.
I'm still going to need all the luck I can get.
s6
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spincast or fly fishing ? what is your favorite type of fish to catch?
stealth6
insert witty tagline here
I fish tenkara......call it fly fishing as it's the closest thing.
I'm very much a trout guy.
Smaller rivers and mountain streams is where I prefer to be (whatever's happening, or not, in the sky above me.).
s6
Sooner Boomer
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Well, if you're heading to the SE corner of Okla., maybe you can do both...
https://kfor.com/news/great-state/a-beavers-bend-trout-guide-knows-where-hell-be-for-the-eclipse/
stealth6
insert witty tagline here
One might even say you're angling for it.
Best of luck getting to some clear sky, and best of luck with the fishing too.
For various reasons, I won't be making it out of DFW, so all I can do is ignore the forecasts that I can't do anything about anyway and just see what comes on Monday.
KC3KNM
Probably Wrong
We’re staying home and watching from the porch. I’ve seen estimates between 100-200k people coming to VT for the eclipse. Not sure how many will actually show, but I’m pretty sure traffic is going to be insane. Clear skies forecasted here for now though, so hopefully that holds up and we get a good view of it.
stealth6
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You are supposed to have great weather...clear skies.
My brother & family will be among those travelling up your way (from Connecticut)....he will be staying with my cousin who lives in Burlington, and or other family in St Albans, Enosburg, Swanton, or Richford (my ancestral home).
And yes, be grateful and do NOT leave your home....the traffic will be amongst the worst you've ever witnessed in your entire life.
s6
NateB
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We have a good chance of clear skies. My neighborhood is a few miles north of the edge of totality, but I have to work. The airfield I'll be at is about 30 miles North which I hope is still a decent show assuming we aren't flying during it.
Sooner Boomer
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Wowzer. Maybe I should rent out my couch, or my backyard for camping.
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We are in Dallas till Monday night. Visiting some family, and hoping for a miracle. I saw the 2017 eclipse in Wyoming. It is definitely something to see. Good luck to everyone.
There sure are a lot of dire warnings on You Tube. Kind of like Y2K.
Awesome!
stealth6
insert witty tagline here
When Y2K finally "hit", of course the vast majority of all the doomsday warnings just fizzled.
Based on the traffic during the 2017 eclipse....which I "experienced" in a relatively open, sparsely populated region on both big highways and smaller roads....I bet the predictions are going to actually miss the mark of how crazy it's going to be next week. It was unbelievable.
s6
This thread got revived. Cool. Last eclipse went right over my backyard.
This time I'll be in Arkansas camping with some relatives.
Pic is me during 2017 eclipse. Hope the weather is just as good here and now as it was then.
This time I'll be in Arkansas camping with some relatives.
Pic is me during 2017 eclipse. Hope the weather is just as good here and now as it was then.
Heading to Carbondale tomorrow. Forecast is partly cloudy, which is what it was last eclipse, and why I missed totality. And if I don't see it, well, it's still a visit with Younger Daughter.
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Cloud forecast for Dallas little better for Monday fingers crossed.
Frontal boundary and moisture from gulf difficult to model.
Frontal boundary and moisture from gulf difficult to model.
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