Happy Friday!
I will keep the forecast portion of this short today to leave room for a blog on tomorrow’s solar eclipse.
Friday will be a bright and sparkling fall day. Highs will generally fall between 60-65, a bit cooler in the higher terrain to the west.
The weekend forecast remains the same, which is good news! The storm system to our south will remain far enough away to only threaten the South Coastal areas with some light rain. The rest of our area will be stay dry this weekend with a mixture of sun and clouds.
This will be one of the better weekends of the fall for foliage viewing across southern and central New England.
If you head west down the Mass Pike or Route 2, you will find increasingly more and more color. Some areas in Worcester county and western MA will be at peak in the next few days.
Another great road trip this weekend would be north towards the Lakes Region…Colors will be near peak around Segabo Lake and Lake Winnipesaukee.
Again, this is NOT a banner year for foliage in New England so temper your expectations a bit. Many of the trees are going right from green to brown. But, if you are patient and put in the time, no doubt, you will find some very nice splashes of color.
Temperatures on both days will range in the low 60s…mid to upper 50s once you get out of eastern MA and into the higher elevations.
Sunday will be the sunnier of the two days.
Now on to the Solar Eclipse…
This Saturday, for the first time in 12 years, there will be an “annular solar eclipse” happening across the United States. This is not a total solar eclipse, as the Moon is too far away from Earth to completely block out the sun’s rays. Instead, we will see the very edges of the Sun, something called a “ring of fire”.
Courtesy NASA
Now, before you get too excited, we will NOT be able to see this phenomenon here in New England…at least not completely.
In order to catch a glimpse of the ring of fire, you would need to be along the path of the eclipse out in the western U.S.
Here in the Boston area, the Moon will only cover about 17% of the sun at the peak of the eclipse at 1:26pm on Saturday.
This is NOT something you will be able to see with the naked eye.
If you want to catch a glimpse, you will need to purchase solar viewing glasses or some sort of specialized eye equipment.
It is NEVER safe to look directly at the sun without special glasses.
There are many indirect ways to view a solar eclipse from pinhole viewers to spaghetti strainers to a slotted spoon. These methods can all be easily found online. However, I would temper expectations on Saturday for another reason…the weather…
During the time of the partial eclipse (12:18p-2:34p in Boston), there will be lots of clouds around. I would hate for you to go out and purchase special glasses or take the time to make a homemade projection viewer only to be disappointed by cloud cover.
The farther north you are, the better the chance of catching a glimpse.
Truth is, this eclipse is just a tease for the real thing coming April 8 of 2024. On that day, the Moon will completely cover the sun for about 4 minutes, making for a total solar eclipse. And this time, the path of totality will pass through parts of New England.
This is truly an amazing event to witness, a bucket-list item for many. In fact, lots of folks have already planned vacations to locations within the path of totality.
Parts of northern Vermont and northern New Hampshire will be directly in the path that afternoon!
In these locations, day turns to night within minutes, it is truly a surreal feeling!
Total solar eclipses only occur in any given location about once every 375 years.
Start planning now! Trust me, you won’t be dissapointed.
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