April 8, 2024 Eclipse Information

A total solar eclipse (TSE) happens when the moon completely obscures the sun. TSEs are rare events and last for only a maximum of a few minutes at any location. The continental U.S. has only three TSEs in the first half of this century: 2017, 2024, and 2045. The next TSE crossing New York State is 2079. The New York State Mesonet will be tracking the eclipse in real-time as totality traverses our state. In total, 55 NYS Mesonet standard sites will experience totality during the eclipse, and every other site will experience at least 90% obscuration at the peak of the eclipse. Below are some links where you can follow along with us and information about how we are helping out with this once-in-a-generation event!

Links

  • Eclipse Dashboard - Live graphs of several variables at every standard Mesonet station during the eclipse, plus eclipse timing and obscuration for station.
  • Profiler Network - Graphs will include lines indicating eclipse stages. Watch for temperatures cooling, winds calming down and decreasing in turbulent mixing in the boundary layer (especially below 5000 ft).
  • Flux Network - The eclipse will be marked on the graphs. Watch for decrease in solar radiation and turbulent fluxes of heat and momentum at the surface.
  • Thruway Network - Watch for darkening skies on the camera display.
  • Network Map - A map of all NYS Mesonet stations showing the path of totality across the network.

Information

The NYS Mesonet is excited to be a part of the Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) occurring on April 8th, 2024. The line of totality will be across western NY into the Tug Hill and northern Adirondack regions, and will encompass 55 standard mesonet sites. This rare event is going to be captured nationwide as part of the National Eclipse Ballooning Project, or NEBP, which is funded by a joint NASA Science Activation and NASA Space Grant award. The NEBP supports 53 teams from 75 participating institutions including a UAlbany team.

Our director, Dr. June Wang, and Dr. Tammy Weckwerth from NSF-NCAR, are leading a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored field project, “Education and Outreach using the MicroPulse Differential Absorption Lidars (MPD) and NYSM Profiler Network before, during, and after the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse”, or the NSF-MPD project. The NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) will deploy MPD Lidars at three NYSM profiling locations around the state: Webster, Chazy and Albany from April 1-30th. The collected data will be combined with NYSM profiler data to study the impacts of the TSE on the weather. In addition to the MPD deployments, two teams of UAlbany students and researchers will be launching weather balloons every 30 minutes during the TSE to capture how the upper-air atmosphere changes during the TSE at both the Albany and Watertown locations. Lastly, we will assist three groups deploying specially designed drones with an in-situ instrument package to measure the boundary layer temperature, humidity, winds and much more during the TSE. The drone launches will occur at the Webster profiler site, at Fort Drum in Watertown, and at our headquarters in ETEC. Stay tuned to our social media accounts for updates!

Path of Totality

This map shows the path of totality across New York State. In total, 55 NYS Mesonet standard sites will experience totality during the eclipse. Every other site will experience at least 90% obscuration at the peak of the eclipse.