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Solar Eclipse Paths and Cloud Fractions: October
Details
Permalink to Details- Added to the Catalog
- Available for
- SOS
- Explorer
- Categories
- Air: Weather
- People: Current Events
- Space: Solar
- Keywords
- Annular Eclipse
- cloud fraction
- Clouds
- Eclipse
- GOES
- Moon
- NASA
- North America
- Satellites
- Solar
- Solar Eclipse
- Space
- Sun
Description
Permalink to DescriptionSeeing a solar eclipse is magnificent regardless of whether or not it is cloudy; however, if the sky is clear of clouds, the sun will be fully visible and thus the experience fully realized.
Your supreme autumn day may include a free and spectacular show in the contiguous United States. Watch the sun temporarily cast a ringlike shadow upon the fall leaves as the annular eclipse path crosses from Oregon through Texas.
This dataset shows cloud fraction average in October over a recent ten year period. Cloud fraction is the percentage of each pixel of satellite imagery that is covered in clouds. Looking at a ten year average of cloudiness in October allows us to see what the likelihood is of the solar eclipse occurring on a cloudy day.
Remember, an eclipse is always worth seeing regardless of whether it is a cloudy day or not. Also, this shows the past ten years of clouds in October, not a forecast of clouds for that day. Check the National Weather Service forecast about seven days before for a better idea of what is expected to happen.
Content Creation Details
Permalink to Content Creation DetailsApril average monthly cloud data for the last 10 years was obtained from NASA Earth Observations and averaged using ArcGIS Pro (for a free alternative use QGIS). The eclipse path was obtained from NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio and edited using Adobe Illustrator. The final video was made using Shotcut, a free and open source video editing software.
Notable Features
Permalink to Notable Features- See the cloud fraction over a ten year period for the areas where the annular solar eclipse will be occurring on October 14, 2023 but it is not a forecast
- Clouds obscure the sun but you will still notice instant darkness and cooler temperatures around you