Total Eclipse A Huge Event, Even In Wyoming Where It Was Only About 60%

CHEYENNE — As Arp Elementary School students filed out of the building and into the playground to watch the midday partial eclipse Monday, cries of “Whoa!,” “It’s so cool!” and other gasps of delight rang out. 

For the younger students in third grade or below, this was the first time they experienced a solar eclipse, an event that won’t be seen again in the contiguous United States until 2044, when these children are well into their 20s or 30s. Their teachers regularly reminded the young ones to not look at the sun without their glasses.

Jaxen Van Ripper, a fourth grader at the school, excitedly proclaimed to classmates that Monday’s eclipse was actually his second, since he could remember the 2017 eclipse in which Wyoming was on the path of totality. Although he was 3 at that time, he insisted he remembered the historic event.

“It was all black [in 2017],” Jaxen told Cowboy State Daily, as he again put his eyes to the sky to take in the astronomical event. 

The children held their eclipse glasses to their eyes, sometimes looking down and pulling the glasses off, giggling to their friends or dancing around the basketball court. 

They were especially excited to view the eclipse Monday because some of them got to miss class for it, Van Ripper said. 

“It’s kind of like being in a hole, because when we looked through the solar glasses, the moon’s kind of like orange and everything else is black,” fourth grader Lilianna Williams told Cowboy State Daily. “I think it should be at Halloween, because this is even better than seeing a full moon.” 

Both Van Ripper and Williams agreed they would save their eclipse glasses as a memento of the eclipse viewing. 

Kindergarten teacher Jacki Huxtable said her students prepared for the eclipse by watching educational videos about how and why the earth and moon’s paths cross to create such a spectacle. 

“I love seeing their excitement to see it and learn about it. We did an Oreo activity to show the different phases of the moon and now they’re actually getting to see it, which is pretty cool,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “Our hope was to get the glasses for the kids, teach them and hopefully they’ll be knowledgeable and excited about the eclipse when it comes around again.” 

More About The Eclipse

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, blocking the sun, according to NASA.

The path of totality is the area where the moon's shadow completely covers the sun. During totality, the sky will become dark as if it were nighttime. NASA also explained that depending on the weather, people along the path of totality can see the sun's outer atmosphere, also known as its corona.

When the eclipse reaches totality, viewers can remove their eclipse glasses for a short time, since it is so dark.

Wyoming, or portions of it, was in the path of totality during the 2017 solar eclipse. This year, however, the state's totality was anywhere from 50% to 60%, meaning it was visible, but not as clear or stunning as it would be in somewhere like Missouri or Ohio. It was also cloudy in Cheyenne on Monday, meaning there were times the sun and the eclipse were not visible due to the cloud coverage. Totality may only last for a minute or two, depending on the viewer's location.

Cowboy State Daily reporters were all over the United States on Monday, including three along the eclipse’s path of totality.

Andrew Rossi, CSD Reporter, Cleveland, Ohio

Cloudy skies are constant in Cleveland. So, Clevelanders and thousands of other visitors were apprehensive as they awaited the afternoon solar eclipse.

The total solar eclipse would reach totality around 3:15 p.m. EST, making Cleveland a celestial destination for those few minutes when the skies go dark and the sun's black void is surrounded by a halo of white light.

At Sims Park in Euclid, the nearest suburb on the east side of Cleveland, people were already picnicking and staking their claims around noon. Dave Tarantino, the director of the auxiliary unit of the Euclid Police Department, said it was unlike anything else in his 27 years of experience in northeast Ohio.

“We've been talking about it for a year and preparing for the last six months,” he said. “We had one that wasn't quite this total in 2017. It’ll be interesting for everybody.”

The path of the 2017 eclipse trekked a perfect diagonal from the northwest to the southeast corner of Wyoming. On Aug. 17, 2017, the entire state was booked to capacity as people flooded into the Cowboy State to see it.

Cleveland was similarly overrun with skygazers Monday.

Gov. Mike DeWine had the National Guard on standby to direct traffic if needed, and Tarantino thought that might be required given the confluence of events that Monday.

“They’re expecting big crowds in downtown Cleveland,” he said, “because it's opening day for the Cleveland Guardians and they just had the NCAA Women's Championship over the weekend. It's going to be very busy downtown.”

The city of Cleveland anticipated more than 200,000 people would crowd the lakefront beaches and piers between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Edgewater Park along the shores of Lake Erie. That’s over a third of Wyoming’s population on just less than 4 miles of land.

Dark Side Of The Moon

While thousands of people crowded the beaches, many others sat in camp chairs on their own driveways or perched on the tops of their vehicles. A much more modest crowd of Clevelanders gathered along the shores of Lake Erie behind Villa St Angela High School in Euclid as the eclipse inched towards totality.

The temperature dropped precipitously along the lake shore as the moon slowly engulfed the sun. As the skies darkened, the lights of the Cleveland skyline became more visible.

Euclid residents Johnny and Terri added to the ambiance by playing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon on their Bluetooth speakers, much to the approval of the other people gathered there.

“I was in Oregon for the last one in 2017,” Terri said. “This is the second one for me. I’ll never forget the chills I got from the last one.”

Everyone was holding their breath in the last moments before totality. The sudden cover of darkness triggered the high school football stadium’s lights while seagulls and blackbirds cried in confusion.

At 3:14 p.m., the eclipse over Cleveland reached totality to thunderous cheers of the hundreds of thousands of lakefront spectators echoed along the Lake Erie coastline.

“So fortunate,” Terri repeatedly exclaimed with tears in her eyes. “So fortunate.”

A few firecrackers were heard as everyone removed their eclipse glasses to observe the eerie stillness of Lake Erie while a gorgeous tapestry of colors streaked the skies. Above it all, the sun’s corona shone clearly and brilliantly through the thin clouds covering the sky.

The cheering rose again once the few minutes of totality ended, and brilliant beads of sunlight appeared around the edges of the blacked-out sun. The temperature rose, the birds quieted, and the crowds started trickling back towards their regular Monday routine.

Coy Knobel, CSD Night Editor, Dallas, Texas

An estimated 400,000 people came to Dallas-Fort Worth, the largest metro area in the path of solar eclipse totality. They may not have gotten totally what they wanted, but I bet most were pretty happy. Clouds rolled through from the beginning of the eclipse, but breaks allowed for 10 seconds here, 30 seconds there, throughout. 

Solar eclipses happen every few months, but total eclipses at a specific location don’t happen often. Dallas-Fort Worth last saw a total solar eclipse in 1878 and the next one after this one is set for the year 2345.

The social aspect seems as big for people as the eclipse itself. Big Texas parties were the order of the day. Parks, ball fields, ranches, businesses, RV parks were crowded with anticipation. The Department of Transportation hoped the roads wouldn’t be, though. Signs along roadways read “Arrive early, stay put, leave late” along with admonishments not to stop on the roadways.

I was in Riverton on Aug. 21, 2017. That eclipse seemed more impressive to me, but maybe I’m just biased. It seemed to get cold fast as well as dark.

It pretty much stayed 80 degrees here in Keller, Texas, (about 30 miles northwest of Dallas) but this eclipse was still pretty cool. Dogs barked in the distance like they do at night. Streetlights came on. Things got quiet.

Then the sun came back and everything seemed to go back to normal.

Let’s hope the roads aren’t a parking lot like they were in Wyoming in 2017 when it took half a day to drive from Riverton to Rawlins afterward.

Leo Wolfson, CSD Political Reporter, Moretown, Vermont

It became completely dusk at the time of the eclipse. It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. The birds completely stopped chirping. Staring at the eclipse was unreal as it looked silver and translucent 

Air temperature dropped close to 10 degrees.

As the last sliver of sun dropped behind the moon, you could physically see the sun evaporating before your eyes until there was nothing.

Bill Sniffin, Columnist, Las Vegas

The eclipse here in Las Vegas was a maximum 50% at 11:20 a.m. Very few people seemed to notice anything was happening with the help of the special glasses.

We were able to watch as the moon passed in front of the sun, an amazing spectacle.