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What happens if it's too cloudy for the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse?

April in Louisville features a variety of weather! With the eclipse coming April 8, here are the odds of having a clear day.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Great American Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 is just months around the corner! Although Louisville is just 30 miles from the path of totality, we'll still experience a 99.2% eclipse of the sun.

April, however, is typically one of our cloudiest months across Kentuckiana.

If we have a blanket of clouds in the sky the day of the eclipse, it could negatively impact the viewing experience.

Are the odds in our favor?

On April 8, 2024 the moon will pass between the sun and the earth and temporarily block the sun’s light in the middle of the day for millions of Americans in the path of totality. 

Credit: WHAS 11
Cities in the path of totality near Louisville include French Lick, Evansville, Terre Haute, & Bloomington.

We can cross our fingers for a clear day so our view isn’t obstructed, but the odds are not exactly in our favor. 

In fact, Louisville has seen just about every type of weather on April 8. It’s been as hot as 85 degrees in 2020 and as cold as 24 degrees in 1972. We have even seen several inches of snow on the date before.

April is also our second wettest month of the year just behind May, and therefore one of our cloudiest.

Credit: WHAS 11
Louisville has seen a variety of weather on April 8, the day of the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse.

There are 94 clear days, 103 partly cloudy days, and 168 cloudy days in an average year. 

That gives us a one-in-three chance of a cloudy day for the total solar eclipse. With April averaging nearly 5 inches of rain, our odds are closer to one-in-two.

Credit: WHAS 11
April is typically Louisville's 2nd wettest month.

What would a cloudy solar eclipse look like?

If it’s cloudy on April 8, the sun will be obscured and your view of the moon as it begins to eclipse the sun will be harder to see. You’ll likely notice a sunset like glow on the horizon during the early stages, depending on how thick the cloud cover is. 

It will still get dark during totality, though the shift from day to night will not be as dramatic as it would be on a clear day. 

The temperature will also drop a few degrees, birds will stop chirping, and it will still be a very unique experience, but your best bet for clear skies will require you to do some traveling. 

Credit: WHAS 11
Clouds in front of the eclipse taken from 2017's eclipse in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Clear, cloudy, or raining, the eclipse will still happen and it will be one to remember. Stick with WHAS11's First Alert StormTeam as we bring you the most accurate total solar eclipse forecast in the coming months. 

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