How will our eclipse experience be affected if Monday is a cloudy day?
Scott Steiger, a meteorology professor at SUNY Oswego, said the Syracuse area has a greater than 50% chance of sunshine on eclipse day. He notes that there is a chance we see cirrus clouds, high level more transparent clouds, but he said even if there are some clouds we'll be able to see the eclipse.
"You'll still be able to see the disk," Steiger said. "Wearing your glasses, you still be able to see the sun disk getting covered by the moon, and then, when it is a total eclipse, you'll be able to see that the sun is covered by the moon as long as the clouds are transparent."
Steiger said he does not anticipate there being cumulus clouds, the lower and thicker clouds, on Monday. He said there'll be some other changes in weather during the eclipse like a drop in temperature.
"You'll notice probably the wind will weaken during the afternoon," Steiger said. "Because a lot of times what happens during the day is you get these thermals forming as the ground heats up and that can bring down stronger winds to the ground and make it windier. Well, once the eclipse happens, the sun is, there's less heating of the ground, so those thermals weaken, and that means the background wind might weaken as well, as the eclipse is developing."
