You better order your glasses now! The April 8 total solar eclipse – which will send a swath of the U.S. into sudden twilight – will be the “single largest event of our lifetime” in Erie County.
Erie falls within the 124 mile-wide path of totality, a range with the best view of the eclipse stretching from southern Texas to northern Maine. But northwest Pennsylvania will be unique because the blackout will last for nearly four minutes!
Check out this simulation that shows where and when the total eclipse will happen in Pennsylvania.
The path totality along northwest Pennsylvania. (The Great American Eclipse)
While this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you’ve been warned: You might just want to watch the livestream instead of hiking north. Erie could bring in 65,000 to 259,000 visitors, and a lot of hotels and campgrounds are sold out. State and local officials are still figuring out how to handle all of the traffic.
And it’s totally possible that clouds could obstruct the view. This Space.com assessment from last year says that Erie has about a 39.2% chance of clear skies.
In Pittsburgh, we will be able to see a partial eclipse starting at 2 p.m., with the maximum eclipse view at 3:17 p.m. A partial eclipse means the sky will never fully darken. Make sure to keep your glasses on to protect your eyes!
No matter where you are, in perfect view or not, it will be a powerful moment of collective memory-making. We won’t have another viewable total eclipse from the U.S. until 2044. The last total solar eclipse along the East Coast was on March 7, 1970.
