Something pretty unusual will happen today in Columbus. We’re on the edge of the path of a total solar eclipse, where the moon will pass by the face of the sun. The downtown area will experience 99.6 percent totality for a few minutes starting at 3:07 p.m. this afternoon. If you want 100 percent totality, you’ll need to head north. Akron and Cleveland, among other Ohio cities, are on the totality track, which you can check out here.
Here’s an interesting statistic about just how rare it is to have a total solar eclipse visible in Ohio: the last one happened in 1806, only three years after Ohio became a state, The Ohio Department of Natural Resources notes that only 21 total solar eclipses have crossed the lower 48 states during the entire existence of the United States. The next one to hit Ohio won’t arrive until 2099.
Given the unusual nature of the eclipse experience, people in Columbus don’t quite know what to expect. There have been some weird warnings about making sure your car is gassed up, because there could be an influx of eclipse watchers coming to town and guzzling up our gas supplies, and traffic is expected to be bad because of potential visitors. Don’t be surprised if people have responded to the warnings by going to the store and stocking up on toilet paper, just as they would if a big storm were in the weather forecast.
I’ll head outside to check out the eclipse when near-totality occurs, but there may be a big catch: it is April in Ohio, which is a cloudy time. We don’t know if the sun will even be visible through the standard cloud cover. Right now, the weather app is predicting cloudy conditions between 3 and 4 p.m. Keep your fingers crossed that there will be a break in the clouds so we all can get a glimpse of a pretty amazing celestial spectacle.
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