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I think Oregon is a bad spot to view it. The weather (yes, even in summer) is too unpredictable and it's too close to populated coastal areas. Wyoming is the
by JPKab 9y ago
I think Oregon is a bad spot to view it. The weather (yes, even in summer) is too unpredictable and it's too close to populated coastal areas.
Wyoming is the way to go, or western Nebraska. Don't expect to get hotels, but camping on a rancher's land is easy, and the arid climate in the summer minimizes chances of cloud cover.
- jasode 9y ago>, or western Nebraska. I'll be in eastern Nebraska (Omaha) and will drive south on I-80 towards the eclipse path and hopefully pull off to the side and park somewhere. What's hard to plan for is whether too many other Nebraskans will have the exact same idea which means I have to camp out a ridiculous 12 hours before the event to secure a spot -- or give up entirely.
- Retric 9y agoThe ideal location is 70 miles wide and 2100 miles long. I don't think viewing space is going to be much of an issue. PS: Sure, the closer to the center the longer the total eclipse lasts. But, you still end up seeing the same thing.
- jasode 9y ago>The ideal location is 70 miles wide True but I was trying to minimize the distance from Omaha airport since I have to catch a flight 5 hours later. It will be interesting to see how many of the ~500,000 Omaha residents will be on that stretch of I-80!
- camiller 9y agofrom I-80 (in Lincoln) take highway 77 south towards Beatrice. The closer you get to Beatrice the longer the totality. Lincoln will get about 1 min, Beatrice gets 2:35.
- eclipsePrepper 9y agoI highly recommend rescheduling your flight.. seriously. Right before and right after the eclipse roads will be slammed! One article from Missouri said to expect Florida hurricane evacuation level traffic. If you still want to try to fly, bring LOTS of water in case you are stuck in traffic for hours.
- aakriti1215 9y agoI'm in Lincoln and I don't think too many people are planning to go far since its in the middle of the day.
- ant6n 9y agoI'm planning to drive up north from Denver, the day of. Kind of concerned about how many people will have the same idea, and how early I should start...
- eclipsePrepper 9y agoMany people I've talked with are planning to make this event into a long weekend. If you want to avoid traffic... and find parking - I'd recommend at least Thursday.
- JPKab 9y agoI'm in Denver area too. The question is this: How much better is a 100% eclipse vs. a 90% eclipse that we'll get here? Is it worth the trip to Wyoming? I think so, but not positive.
- BenjiWiebe 9y agoAccording to everything I've read, and all pictures I've seen, 99% is one thing, and 100% totally something else.
- learc83 9y agoWhy not just get a hotel outside of the path of totality, get up super early and drive to it?
- jasode 9y agoThat's what I'm doing but the wildcard is we don't know what a meaningful amount of "super early" would mean since we don't have recent eclipses in the USA to use as past guides about crowd behavior. It's an unprecedented mega event since the last total eclipse to cross the USA-48 was 1918 when the horse & buggy was still prevalent. I plan to find a spot 6 hours early but my worst fear is that everybody else camped out 12+ hours before I did. Or there is unforseen traffic gridlock towards the path of totality.
- learc83 9y agoThat's true, but the path of totality is 70 miles wide. If you make contingency plans, pick an area that isn't too populated but has multiple roads, my guess is that it will be fine. >everybody else camped out 12+ hours before I did Basically every spot is a good spot as long as you can get to it. Gridlock starting the day before is the only problem I can foresee that would keep me from actually getting there. I'll probably pack the bikes in the insane case that I have to leave my car on the side of the road 20 miles outside of the path of totality or something. But the only way I see that happening is if it turns into something like a hurricane evacuation.
- JPKab 9y agoWait a minute: I thought the last full eclipse to cross the USA was in the late 70's??? Pretty sure it hasn't been since 1918. Yep, I was right: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_February_26,_1979 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_February_26,_...
- jasode 9y ago>I thought the last full eclipse to cross the USA was in the late 70's? Right, but that 1979 one didn't reach the major metro areas across the entire swath of USA-48. That's what people mean by comparing it to 1918[1] in terms of widespread national interest. The eclipses of 1918, 2017, and 2024 attract extra attention because of the paths crossing numerous population centers. [1] https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/20th-century/ https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/20th-century/
- maxxxxx 9y agoWhat do you think of Grand Teton? I will in Yellowstone that week. I am not sure if we should go do Grand Teton or Nebraska for the eclipse. Ideally I want to hike somewhere for a few miles to avoid the crowds.
- JPKab 9y agoThe Grand Tetons/Yellowstone are super packed on normal summer days. Jackson Hole is super expensive on normal summer days. Probably gonna have a hard time.
- maxxxxx 9y agoI have a campsite reserved in Yellowstone and would drive South. I guess a good plan would be to pick a trail and go there at night so you are already on thew trail before the crowds come. Not sure about the weather though.
- mkempe 9y agoI scouted the same area. The weather should be perfect by mid-day. Plan to drive v.early-morning a couple of hours East or West (across a mountain range in either direction) depending on a bad weather forecast. You'll know the night before.
- amock 9y agohttp://eclipsophile.com/total-solar-eclipses/total-solar-eclipse-2017-august-21/ http://eclipsophile.com/total-solar-eclipses/total-solar-ecl... has weather overviews for various locations and it rates eastern Oregon as possibly the best place as far as weather goes. Once you get east of the mountains there's much less water to cause viewing problems.
- davidw 9y agoErrr, east of the Cascades, Oregon is pretty dry and sunny. Look at the satellite today, for instance: http://weather.cod.edu/satrad/exper/?parms=northwest-02-48-0 http://weather.cod.edu/satrad/exper/?parms=northwest-02-48-0 Perfect example of the Cascades blocking the crap. That said, it looks like things are going to be a complete and total mess here in central Oregon with all the people converging on this area.
- petsfed 9y agoCamping on a rancher's land with permission is easy. But given the expected crowds, friends in e.g. Glendo (population ~200) plan to be out enforcing their property rights against the anticipated tens-of-thousands of out-of-towners. So be smart, camp on public land. Otherwise you'll likely get shot.
- cjensen 9y agoIf you check out things ahead of time, you'll find that many landowners plan on cashing in by allowing paid dry camping.