Will Buffalo be a good place to see the total eclipse of the sun?

[JujuFish]

Went with a couple of friends to their friend's house in northern VT. Turns out the guy is a Rochester native, which was fun.

The weather was great. Traffic coming back was horrible. I'm glad I made the trip.

[SDS]

2 hours ago, JujuFish said:

Went with a couple of friends to their friend's house in northern VT. Turns out the guy is a Rochester native, which was fun.

The weather was great. Traffic coming back was horrible. I'm glad I made the trip.

Where in northern Vermont?

[Stoner]

My best shot from fairly early in the proceedings. You can see it...

But maybe not at low res.

[JujuFish]

1 hour ago, SDS said:

Where in northern Vermont?

Sheffield

[Stoner]

Hey SDS wanna go to the total eclipse in Greenland in 2026?*

*Only one of us will return.

[#freejame]

Just now, PASabreFan said:

Hey SDS wanna go to the total eclipse in Greenland in 2026?*

*Only one of us will return.

Spain is projected to have better visibility for 2026. If you're really looking for a trip, Egypt in 2027 will be better in terms of length and visibility. 

[Weave]

39 minutes ago, #freejame said:

Spain is projected to have better visibility for 2026. If you're really looking for a trip, Egypt in 2027 will be better in terms of length and visibility. 

And probably cloud cover.

[Stoner]

Just now, Weave said:

And probably cloud cover.

Ouch. You seem as bitter as I am about yesterday.

[Weave]

6 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Ouch. You seem as bitter as I am about yesterday.

Not bitter.  Just an extension of my Because Buffalo disappointment.

[K-9]

3 minutes ago, Weave said:

Not bitter.  Just an extension of my Because Buffalo disappointment.

Wide right, no goal, 13 seconds, 2024 solar eclipse. 😂

[#freejame]

22 minutes ago, Weave said:

And probably cloud cover.

You are correct, it’s supposed to be about as much of a sure thing as you can get. 

I understand the clouds were disappointing, but there was also something fun of the anticipation of it poking through the clouds and the excitement when it became visible. Was it the ideal experience? Probably not. But it was still something to experience without a doubt. 

[Weave]

23 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Wide right, no goal, 13 seconds, 2024 solar eclipse. 😂

[SDS]

I will be looking into trips in the near future. Luxor, Egypt looks insanely interesting. Almost 7 minutes of totality. It’s like two eclipses in one.

[JustOneParade]

We had a mostly clear afternoon here in Western MA. Enjoyed having the kids over to join my wife and I for the event. A couple things really jumped out at me. With only a very tiny sliver of the sun exposed at the peak (7:30 to 10:30 as a clock face) the sky got grayish in color but there were still shadows. And the temperature dropped noticeably. The sun is an awful long way away but puts into perspective how bright it is and just how much heat that sucker generates. 

BTW, any else listen to Pink Floyd’s DSOTM while all this was happening?

[SDS]

2 minutes ago, JustOneParade said:

BTW, any else listen to Pink Floyd’s DSOTM while all this was happening?

Black hole Sun by Soundgarden was the play.

[JustOneParade]

Lastly, all routes north (and subsequently south) from MA were severely clogged with traffic. Made me wonder what the GI bridges were like if 1M people descended upon the Falls for this thing. Any updates from back home?

[Wyldnwoody44]

12 minutes ago, SDS said:

I will be looking into trips in the near future. Luxor, Egypt looks insanely interesting. Almost 7 minutes of totality. It’s like two eclipses in one.

I guess I just don't get all the excitement over it. I mean it was close to me yesterday, but the thought of flying to see it, just doesn't do it for me. Different strokes. 

[PromoTheRobot]

9 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

How do you make it to buffalo so much ?

I just plan to go. I look for weekends where I can see several games, (Bills, Sabres, UB) get in the car and drive.

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, SDS said:

Black hole Sun by Soundgarden was the play.

Same. 

[SDS]

11 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Same. 

Still driving back. It came up on Spotify about 30 min ago.

[K-9]

5 hours ago, JustOneParade said:

We had a mostly clear afternoon here in Western MA. Enjoyed having the kids over to join my wife and I for the event. A couple things really jumped out at me. With only a very tiny sliver of the sun exposed at the peak (7:30 to 10:30 as a clock face) the sky got grayish in color but there were still shadows. And the temperature dropped noticeably. The sun is an awful long way away but puts into perspective how bright it is and just how much heat that sucker generates. 

BTW, any else listen to Pink Floyd’s DSOTM while all this was happening?

Actual NASA image:

 

[SDS]

This guy took pictures next to my car. He did a very nice job.

Average Joe Photography on Instagram.

[SDS]

1 hour ago, SDS said:

This guy took pictures next to my car. He did a very nice job.

Average Joe Photography on Instagram.

And another one from the guy standing 10 feet behind me during totality.

[Porous Five Hole]

2 hours ago, SDS said:

And another one from the guy standing 10 feet behind me during totality.

Rochester was 100% cloud cover and the experience was still surreal. It was like my world was on an hyper aggressive dimmer switch. The birds stopped. The flowers looked down. You knew this “shouldn’t” be happening and it was. It was the coolest and quietest  few minutes.  And then it was like someone turned the power back on. 
 

My question for you is how did your experience differ with the glasses on? Was the demise of light as noticeable? How did the sun v moon visual enhance the experience?

[That Aud Smell]

In his post to the Buffalo News website today, Don Paul acknowledges that there's not a lot of scientific horsepower associated with forecasting cloud cover (which he calls "a low-impact forecast element").

This helps explain why it wasn't until mid-morning on the day of the event that we learned that clouds would be clearing from west to east throughout the day.

+++

What would normally be a low-impact forecast element, percentage and thickness of cloud cover, became the critical element for days. With all the expansive improvements in weather forecasting accuracy and range, the issue of if and when extensive cloud cover will be present at a specific time on an early spring day remains one of the toughest calls for meteorologists. Even models and pattern recognition remain of limited use, despite model improvement.