One year anniversary of the Great American Eclipse

Looking ahead to the 2024 American eclipse

ROANOKE, Va – One year ago, the nation was captivated by the Great American Eclipse. From the west coast to the east coast, everyone in America was treated to at least a partial solar eclipse. Total darkness fell in the middle of the day for those in totality, where the moon passed in between the sun and Earth and cast it's shadow across a narrow strip of the United States.

In Southwest Virginia, about 90 percent of the sun was covered by the moon. It was enough to make the afternoon look like the evening, but the main event was a four hour drive to our south. 

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Here are some pictures of last years event from southwest Virginia.

If you missed the opportunity to see totality, the solar eclipse at its finest, the thing on many peoples' bucket list, we're giving you a six year head start on the next one.

This time around the path of totality, where the sky goes completely dark for a few moments, is oriented from south to north rather than west to east.

Mexico will be first up in North America. Major cities like Dallas, Cleveland and Buffalo will be treated to the complete celestial event.

Southwest Virginia will once again miss out on totality. In fact, only about 85 percent of the sun will be blocked by the moon, so if you want to see what all the craze was about last year, start making plans for April 8th, 2024. It might also be a good idea to order those NASA approved viewing glasses while they are still cheap and in stock.

 

 


About the Author:

Jonathan Kegges joined the News 6 team in June 2019 and now covers weather on TV and all digital platforms.