THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON...
Millions of sky gazers in Chili and Argentina were left in awe Tuesday as a total solar eclipse passed over South America, The shadow of the moon began to traverse the southern Pacific Ocean around 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday and was clearly visible on weather satellite imagery. The black circle below is the moons shadow as it advances across the Pacific. Nice!
Totality lasted for a little more than 2 minutes for people that strategically placed themselves in this narrow area on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, much of the balance of the continent witnessed a partial solar eclipse. The photo below is of the 2017 solar eclipse and was taken in Oregon.
A lot happened in the two to two-and-a-half minutes during totality. The temperature dropped. Bright stars and planets appeared in the darkened sky. Crickets started chirping. Street lights turned on. Animals acted differently. Looking down at the horizon revealed a 360-degree sunrise/sunset. Then just two minutes later, the first beams of light shined down as the moon gradually uncovered the sun, and everything began to return to normal.
People across North America (especially the U.S.) hoping to see something similar will need to wait until April 8, 2024. The coming eclipse in five years will not be visible coast-to-coast, but the path of totality, or area where the total eclipse is visible, will pass over several large metro areas. This includes Dallas; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Buffalo, New York; and Montreal, Quebec.
Weatherwise, the skies around the Midwest will be darkened by scattered thunderstorms in coming days. A typical July weather pattern featuring heat and humidity and an active ring of fire will see to that. Timing individual disturbances and outflow boundaries will be especially challenging when it comes to pin-pointing the development of storm clusters, However, there's high confidence that the greatest coverage will come during the late afternoon and evening. Storms should be short in duration leaving many dry hours. That said, where storms develop they will have the potential of producing downpours and (in a few spots) some marginally severe wind gusts. SPC doesn't show much besides marginal severe weather outlooks through the 4th across the Midwest.
The Weather Prediction Center does have some pockets of heavy rain. It's likely to be spotty in nature but a few locations could see more than 2" where stronger updrafts are found. This is the 5 day rainfall forecast from WPC.
When there are no storms to dodge, it will be warm and sticky through Saturday. Highs will generally be in the range of 85 to 90 with some passing clouds. Here's the 5 day temperature departures showing the above normal readings.
If you notice, there is some cool air building in Canada and the northern Plains and that should reach us around July 10th. It will also bring a noticeable reduction in humidity. That's it for now. Have a fine day and roll weather...TS
