LOUISVILLE, Ky. — We all know April showers bring May flowers, but if it rains on April 8 it'll probably just bring disappointment for the millions hoping for a clear view of the Total Solar Eclipse.
Historically, the odds are not in our favor when it comes to seeing much sunshine in early April.
Looking back on the last 23 April 8s in Louisville will give us a better expectation on what we could see, or not, this year.
The stats
We have only had 6 April 8s that have featured partly sunny to mostly sunny skies with just one completely sunny day.
That leaves us with a whopping 16 years out of 23 that have featured a variation of clouds in the sky on the date of the eclipse right around 3 p.m. That comes out to almost 70%.
Thirteen have had rain at some point in the day, which is around 56%.
If you do not want to gamble on the small chance of a clear day, airlines are providing the opportunity to view it from way up above the clouds.
Go above the clouds
Delta Airlines is offering a special flight from Dallas to Detroit guaranteed to maximize your time in totality, but it’ll cost you a pretty penny. At the last check, tickets were selling for over $1,400 for main cabin.
United Airlines has a route from San Antonio to Indianapolis that lines up with the timeline, too.
Southwest has been cashing in on the big event for a while now. They said they have the “greatest likelihood of offering customers the best view of the moment” with outbound flights from Dallas, Austin and Houston -- just to name a few.
In a perfect world, the flights will be on time and the skies will be clear. It is still a bit too early to tell, but the First Alert StormTeam will be all over the forecast in the coming weeks.
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