Solar Eclipse April 8th

[km1125]

My view from just south of Lima, Ohio. Other than some very thin whispy clouds, it was basically clear.

It was a surreal experience. The light a few minutes before totality has a very eerie look - the only way I can describe it is like one of those car headlights that has a blueish hue but shining from the sky - it is a very different look than just dusk. Then totality itself - being able to look up at it without eye protection -it was a lot brighter than I was expecting, and the detail with which you could see the sun's surface was amazing.

The sky was basically dark, but you could see what looked like early morning light on the horizon but in all directions.

Totality where I watched lasted for nearly 4 minutes.

I was 30-40 miles east of there. What I noticed was about 1/2 hour before totality there was a general darkening like a dark cloud was covering the sun, then that eerie feeling you get just before a tornado with the green skies, but no real green tint. I had to relocate because the original spot I had stopped at had some heavier whispy clouds right overhead, but I saw a clearing further south so I moved down about 10-12 miles and it was pretty much clear.

I expected a lot of traffic going down and that didn't surprise me, even though I started down much later than I planned. Coming back though WAS a big surprise with the volume of traffic. I heard there was still congestion and backups in Toledo up till around 10PM!

[MWmetalhead]

Amazing photo, bmw! Thanks for sharing that!

To answer an earlier question - glasses are unneeded at the point of full totality.

Some of the viewing events shown on TV from football stadiums and such were cool. Toledo had a very nice event on the UT campus.

[km1125]

I was surprised at how much people were charging -or trying to charge- just for a parking spot. When you could park for free anywhere to see pretty much straight up.

Was also surprised to see small groups of people going way out in the middle of a field and setting up chairs and blankets to observe the eclipse, as if they needed to see from horizon-to-horizon, rather than just looking up. They would park cars on the edge of the road, then walk way out to the middle of the field to their "camp".

[Matt]

I wish I would've traveled to Northern Ohio...

This story's already bullshit...

[Bobbert]

What I noticed was about 1/2 hour before totality there was a general darkening like a dark cloud was covering the sun, then that eerie feeling you get just before a tornado with the green skies, but no real green tint.

That's a perfect description of what I experienced in Plymouth at 3:13. Sure, it wasn't totality, but it was a unique experience that I'll never forget. It was definitely more pronounced than the solar eclipse effect in the summer of 2017. I think the closest place of totality then was in Tennessee, and here I just saw a soft darkening of the skies, like overcast.

Later, I watched a video from Indianapolis, where I grew up. They were set up at the Indy 500 racetrack. It was amazing to watch, with all the cheering, and the sudden change from light to dark to light again. I was excited just watching it like that—I envy anyone who was there in person.

[Matt]

What I noticed was about 1/2 hour before totality there was a general darkening like a dark cloud was covering the sun, then that eerie feeling you get just before a tornado with the green skies, but no real green tint.

That's a perfect description of what I experienced in Plymouth at 3:13. Sure, it wasn't totality, but it was a unique experience that I'll never forget. It was definitely more pronounced than the solar eclipse effect in the summer of 2017. I think the closest place of totality was in Tennessee, and here I just saw a soft darkening of the skies, like overcast.

Later, I watched a video from Indianapolis, where I grew up. They were set up at the Indy 500 racetrack. It was amazing to watch, with all the cheering, and the sudden change from light to dark to light again. I was excited just watching it like that—I envy anyone who was there in person.

Same experience on the U-M campus yesterday.

[ZenithCKLW]

I have experienced several solar eclipses, but have never experienced totality until yesterday. We drove from Livonia to Fallen Timbers Metropark in Ohio, which is just west of Maumee along the Maumee River near US-23. The total eclipse was an amazing sight above the Maumee River as it got dark and significant cooler. It felt like 9:30 PM on a summer night. Got some decent, but not great, pictures to remember the event. BMW has the superior photo in this thread - good job on that.

US-23 was a solid red line on Google Maps, and a parking lot from Ann Arbor all the way down to Ohio, and so were all the north-south arterial roads. Being a roadgeek, I zig-zagged lots of Washtenaw and Monroe Counties' dirt roads all the way down. This schoolbus from Frankfort/Elberta in front of me seemed to know my every next turn at 35 MPH for too many miles, annoyed the crap out of me. Took about 2.5-3 hours to arrive. Reverse the situation on the way home.

[zzand]

Our area grew by about 50 thousand people who camped out starting Saturday.. There were parties and stuff like that. Parking was silly priced. 10 to 20 dollars for places normally free. BMW described it perfectly and we were almost dead center for a total eclipse.. Glad all those people have gone and life is back to normal. One funny story. Guy was walking around our event handing out Trump goodies and the Police Chief , a Republican, walked up to him and told him this event is to view the eclipse it isn't a political event so you are free to stay but put your political stuff away as everyone is welcome here. Guy got pissed and left. As he was leaving he yelled a Trump Eclipse would have been better than this lame Biden one. Can't make shit like that up.

[Rate This]

I got a massive migraine from the light change that’s only now fading… I’m good on any further eclipses even Mitsubishi versions.

[TC Talks]

I was originally heading near Sandusky, but Matt's warnings about Ohio kept me away.

Here in Traverse City we hit 86%. The temperature went from 69⁰ to 60⁰ and the wind kicked up.

Fun to watch...

[radiofann]

Our area grew by about 50 thousand people who camped out starting Saturday.. There were parties and stuff like that. Parking was silly priced. 10 to 20 dollars for places normally free. BMW described it perfectly and we were almost dead center for a total eclipse.. Glad all those people have gone and life is back to normal. One funny story. Guy was walking around our event handing out Trump goodies and the Police Chief , a Republican, walked up to him and told him this event is to view the eclipse it isn't a political event so you are free to stay but put your political stuff away as everyone is welcome here. Guy got pissed and left. As he was leaving he yelled a Trump Eclipse would have been better than this lame Biden one. Can't make shit like that up.

Give that man a free sample of Trumpian Orange/bronze face makeup, vintage 2024 eclipse edition! Only $19.95 plus shipping and handling for a one month supply

[Matt]

I was originally heading near Sandusky, but Matt's warnings about Ohio kept me away.

Here in Traverse City we hit 86%. The temperature went from 69⁰ to 60⁰ and the wind kicked up.

Fun to watch...

And I didn't even know you could have been in close proximity to 2 of our forum MAGA hat wearers.

[billmich88888]

I took 1/2 day off and traveled down, made it Pemberville (SSE of toledo)

anyone that says 99 or 98% is "just as good" is full of crap.

the magic happens at 100%

as someone said on another message board, 99.9% rounds down to zero

I spent 5 hours driving yesterday for 3 minutes of totality,
and it was worth it,

[lidoshuffle]

This is no natural phenomena, this is our gov't, in cahoots with, ummm.... other people, developing and testing out a super weapon capable of blocking out the sun, all in hopes that as you are distracted, millions of "undocumented persons" will be escorted into the USA by Trains, Boats and Planes, then immediatly given debit cards, free lodging in 5-star hotels, voter ID cards, free health care and a drivers license...don't be fooled!

It's true because Tik Tok said so...

Hard to know if you are joking or serious because you have typed some wild shit before.

Good Grief.....

[bmw]

anyone that says 99 or 98% is "just as good" is full of crap.

the magic happens at 100%

Agreed 100 percent (no pun intended). Only caveat I would add is that the 10 seconds or so before (and afte) totality is a unique experience in and of itself as you can still see pretty good until then when the drop in apparent lighting speeds up drastically. I guess someone who was just north of the 100% line had a unique experience compared to even someone just a bit further away. But yeah - the experience of being able to remove your eye protection and look at it directly is on a whole different level of amazing.

As to comments about Ohio (I'm looking at you Matt), I will say this. At least people down there don't all drive like assholes like they do on Interstate in Michigan - the worst, most aggressive drivers being around Saginaw and Flint. I noticed a marked difference in aggression just taking the 75/75-23 split - it was noticeable immediately. I drove down Sunday morning and didn't experience any unusual traffic. My drive back today was a different story thanks to the construction zones in the southern part of Michigan being back up and running.