AUSTIN, Texas — April 8th is the day we’ve all been waiting for! A total solar eclipse will pass directly over Central Texas, bringing 4 minutes of dazzling totality to parts of the KVUE area. Of course, the question on everyone’s mind is, will our weather cooperate?
Unfortunately, the forecast is not looking ideal for eclipse viewing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t be able to see it at all.
So let’s start with the basic forecast. We expect a mostly cloudy sky for Monday with now increasing confidence in the potential for strong storms across Central Texas for the afternoon and evening. Our main concern will be the potential for storms containing large hail, but most models show these storms arriving after the total eclipse. Afternoon highs peak in the lower to mid-80s.
Below you can see the latest projections for total cloud cover percentage across Central Texas. These will likely change some as we get closer to Monday.
We are very confident that there will be high clouds overhead around totality time on Monday. Totality in Austin is at 1:36 p.m. These high thin clouds will create a more filtered view of the eclipse, but should not completely block out the view. If we end up with just high clouds, we would still be in for a pretty nice viewing experience here in Central Texas!
Where we will start to run into more issues is if we have low clouds. These low clouds would completely block out the view. It would still get dark, perhaps even darker than on a clear day, but we just wouldn’t have a view of the sun except in small breaks in the clouds. Low clouds will be widespread Monday morning, but what we need is for those clouds to break up by the early afternoon.
For some areas, this will likely happen as is shown by the latest hi-resolution model data! However, for others, the cloud cover could make viewing conditions much worse. Pinpointing where exactly these breaks in the clouds will form is impossible until we get right up to the event. As of now, we’re putting the chance for low clouds around 60 percent.
On top of the potential for cloud coverage, the KVUE Weather Team is now monitoring the potential for strong storms to impact Central Texas on the day of the eclipse. While most forecast models have the storms arriving later in the afternoon and evening, we are still a couple of days out and the timeline can certainly change. Strong storms are certainly not wanted, but some downdrafts from storms could create temporary clear conditions for viewing the eclipse.
All of Central Texas is under a "slight" - level 2 out of 5 - risk for strong storms with large hail being the main concern.
So overall we expect a mostly cloudy sky. It won’t be a clear sky anywhere, but this doesn’t mean you won’t get a good glimpse at the eclipse.
Here at KVUE, our fingers are crossed for good viewing conditions. We will keep you updated with the very latest through the weekend.
The KVUE Weather Team will continue to closely monitor this developing forecast.
In the meantime, the extended forecast can be found below:
