Eclipse 2017: What you need to know
We're now just under a week away from a rare total solar eclipse in the Midwest.
The path of totality comes as close as north of Kansas City, Mo., to Lincoln, Neb.. The moon will obscure about 90 percent of the sun's rays in southwestern Minnesota. The eclipse peaks at about 83 percent cover in the Twin Cities and 76 percent in Duluth.
Here's the eclipse event timeline for the Twin Cities next Monday.
Once-in-a-lifetime event
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Just how rare is a total solar eclipse this close to home? For many across the United States this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event.
The next total eclipse to track through the Midwest and Minnesota happens in 2099.
Lunar eclipses ahead
There will be another total solar eclipse in the southwest U.S. in 2023 and in the Ohio Valley in 2024. These eclipses will be partially visible in Minnesota.
But Minnesota will enjoy two total lunar eclipses in the next two years. Total lunar eclipses occur in January of 2018 and 2019.
Temperature drop?
Total solar eclipses blot out the sun's rays. That means incoming solar radiation is shut down. Totality may only last about three minutes, but partial darkness may last an hour or more. In Zambia, in 2001 temperatures dropped about 13 degrees during an eclipse.
Forecast: Chance for clouds
The still too early cloud forecast for next Monday suggest a chance for clouds in the Midwest along at least part of the eclipse path. Keep in mind that microcasting clouds during summer is often an hour by hour adventure. We'll get finer resolution detail on cloud cover as we approach the weekend.
Here's NOAA's cloud tracker for next Monday's eclipse.