April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Report: An AWESOME experience

I had been looking forward to the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 for years. I was able to share this experience with some very important and close people in my life. 

My daughter, parents and brother-in-law started out the morning at my home in The Colony, Texas. We could have seen the total eclipse from around there, but I preferred (and my group agreed) to be out in the countryside or a smaller town to be out in nature and to have less traffic congestion to escape from clouds. 

Looking at the forecast for later that day on the various weather models, and looking at the satellite loops, we decided to head east. We stopped in McKinney to assess the situation. It was mostly cloudy above us, and there was a layer of thicker clouds on the south horizon, moving toward us.

But behind the layer of thick clouds was a large clearing on the satellite loop. That was our target. So we headed east for a while and stopped in another town (Princeton). At this point, we were starting to be concerned that we were not seeing the clearing on the horizon.

So we drove for another 35 minutes to the town of Josephine, which is to the south and east of Princeton. Yet still no significant clearing on the horizon.

We called some places in towns further to the southeast to ask them what their weather was like, and they reported mostly clouds with breaks of sunlight. That was better than the overcast that we were getting, but were all still quite concerned. (Credit to my brother-in-law Mark Tucker for that idea)

Sure enough, another look at the satellite loop showed that this area that had been clear was now filling in with broken clouds. 

Somewhat ironically, it actually looked like it was clearing back to the west, where we had just come from. My main concern was that I didn’t want to drive us so far west into the clearer area that we drove out outside of the totality path.

I called a school back to the west (and well within the totality path) and the receptionist said that it was scattered clouds, but mostly blue. Our decision was clear: we had to go back.

After driving back west for a while, the overcast turned to mostly cloudy, and a few miles later, the sky quickly turned to partly cloudy. We had another quick meeting and decided to watch the eclipse from Fronteir Park in Prosper, Texas.

Because of all the driving we had been doing, the partial eclipse was already in progress by the time we arrived. We set up our equipment while using our safety glasses to take quick peeks at the progressing eclipse. A small crowd had already gathered.

The sun was about 3/4 covered when we had everything ready to go. Already, the light was looking a little bit strange and silvery-bluish.

There were still some clouds around, which made us a bit nervous, but the situation was much better than it had been before. The eclipse progressed toward totality. The crescent sun became thinner. Anticipation built.

Then rather suddenly, the sky rapidly darkened as shadow of the moon rushed toward us at 1/2 mile per second. 

The crowd was cheering all around us.

We looked through our protective eclipse glasses as the last few rays of sunlight disappeared behind the moon.

I yelled out, “It is total! Glasses off!” and we looked up at the black silhouette of the moon, surrounded by the amazingly beautiful ethereal white glow of the corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun. The corona had incredible spikes extending in all directions. It looked like a giant flower in the sky. 

We could see several prominences: reddish flares of hydrogen gas in the inner sections of corona. We saw Venus off to the right of the total eclipse, a deep blue twilight sky, and 360° degree sunset. 

It was otherworldly, incredible, and so amazingly beautiful. What a precious gift from God!

After 2 minutes and 10 seconds, totality ended with a stunningly beautiful diamond ring effect: we watched as the first several bright rays of sunlight started to return; the dark disk of the moon was still visible in the middle, the rays of the corona were still visible on the other side- all set against that deep blue twilight sky. We glimpsed that magical, dazzling moment for about 2 or 3 seconds before having to go back to our safety viewers. 

We watched the world brighten around us, and then started sharing with each other our thoughts about the truly awesome experience we had just shared. 

My favorite moment of the day was after totality, when my daughter Zoe yelled out “That was AWESOME!” and ran into my arms for a big hug. Truly a moment to cherish.

I’m so grateful that not only did I get to see this total eclipse, but I was able to share it with some very special people in my life. We created an incredible lifetime memory together.

I’d like to thank my eclipse chasing partners for their patience with me as we were stressing out about the clouds, and for their help in setting things up to make the eclipse that much more enjoyable. 

A total solar eclipse is truly a bucket list item. 

Pictures below; this is the video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfLh-ozt3wk

Thank you for following this blog. I hope it has been helpful in helping you learn more about the incredible experience of totality.