Weather predictions and population statistics show the best spots to see the total solar eclipse over North America this April
I now predict that moment will be very cloudy for my area.
They pointed out cities within 6 hours of the path of totality, but how far away from the totality can you be before you can’t see the eclipse?
Even being at 1%, just outside of totality is completely different. Yes, you can still see it, but it’s still a lot of sunlight.
Here’s the answer to your actual question though: https://www.space.com/37878-solar-eclipse-2024-path-of-totality-maps.html
From the last eclipse, the difference between totality and not totality is night and day. Even at 99% you can’t take the eclipse glasses off. The closer you get the more of the secondary effect you can see, like the crescent shadows, and the overall dimming. here is an interactive map. The percent for each of the lines is on the right and bottom.
I recently booked a campsite inside totality, about 5 hours from here. Going down Sunday, coming back Tuesday.
When we went to see the last one, we did it all in one day. That was a mistake. Traffic on the way there was bad, traffic out after was horrible. If you have a plan to travel for this, it would serve you well to try and avoid having to travel back on Monday, unless you’re already pretty close.
Edit: I’ll also add - bring your own food and water for your whole trip; do not expect to be able to buy anything on the road, especially on the return trip. We stopped at the sketchiest Chinese restaurant I have ever seen, and they were out of rice.
Our house will get about 90 seconds or so of totality, so I am really stoked that I get to see it but don’t have to make it a whole thing. Only thing I haven’t decided is if I’m going to try to muscle in on my kid’s elementary school events or grab her after lunch.
