ROANOKE, Va. – Just years ago, a solar eclipse stole the headlines across America. For some Americans, that will once again be the case on April 8, 2024. Areas in the path of totality, in which the sun is completely obscured by the moon, include Montpelier, VT, Rochester, NY, Buffalo, NY, Cleveland, OH, Toledo, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Little Rock, AR, Dallas, TX and Austin, TX.
So for us in southwest and central Virginia, we’ll have to do some traveling. Here at home, the sun will be 85-90% obscured by the moon.
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Southside: 85-86%
Lynchburg: 87%
Roanoke, NRV and Southern Blue Ridge: 88%
Lexington/Southern Shenandoah: 89%
Highlands: 90%
You’ll have to have special eclipse glasses to view this one. For other parts of Virginia, you can click this link to see just how much the moon will cover the sun.
The eclipse starts close to 2 p.m. on April 8.
The maximum part of the eclipse, when the sun is 88% covered, will come around 3:15 p.m.
Afterwards, the eclipse starts to lose its luster and will eventually finish up before 4:30 p.m.
Switching gears to this week’s forecast, temperatures are on the rise ahead of our next chance for soaking rain. Meteorologist Chris Michaels is tracking how much we’ll get and whether we’ll see flooding in today’s forecast article.
You can always get specific forecast details for your zone, whether it’s the Roanoke Valley, Lynchburg area, the New River Valley or elsewhere around Southwest and Central Virginia, anytime at WSLS.com/weather. Know your zone!
In case you missed it, we’re posting great weather and science content on WSLS.com. Here are a few links from the past week to check out:
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-- Justin McKee