Why Cleveland?  Here’s 5 great reasons!

Lots and lots of things to do!

Long Duration of Totality

But what about the weather?

Cleveland – a great staging area for eclipse chasing

Even if cloudy, there’s still an eclipse over Cleveland!

The 2024 eclipse is the first total solar eclipse visible over Cleveland, Ohio since June 16, 1806!  That was only 10 years after Moses Cleaveland landed at the mouth of the Cuyahoga with the Western Reserve surveyor party.  In 1806, Cleveland was just a tiny woodland settlement amidst Native American tribes, not yet even a village.  The survey was still underway, and the canal was 20 years in the future.

Cleaveland, Ohio, circa 1806 (adapted from Kennedy’s Centennial History (1896))

On the 16th of June a total eclipse of the sun occurred, which for a short time produced in the shady forest the darkness of night.

  – Early History of Cleveland, Ohio, Col. Chas. Whittlesey (1867)

It was while this survey was going on that the celebrated total eclipse of June 16, 1806, occurred; the day becoming in the forest as dark as night itself, and giving the Indians cause to think they had offended the Great Spirit by selling the homes of their fathers to the intruding white men.

- History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Crisfield Johnson (1879)

A lot has changed around Cleveland in last 218 years!  The 2024 eclipse will be the last total solar eclipse visible over Cleveland, Ohio until September 12, 2444!   So this is a really big deal!  Today’s Clevelanders are fortunate to have this celestial event occur in our generation.

A total solar eclipse is a magical, ethereal experience.  It only seems right that such a wondrous sight should be viewed from an exotic location like Stonehenge or the Pyramids.  There was a total solar eclipse on exotic Easter Island in 2010.  So why should anyone consider Cleveland, Ohio a suitable eclipse destination?  Lots of reasons!

But what about the weather?

Okay, let’s face it, everyone knows that the first week of April is “slush and daffodils” season along the ice-encrusted shores of Lake Erie.  According to official statistics, April 8 has been cloudy over Cleveland 60% of the time since 2000.  However, there have been many gorgeous, crystal blue skies on that date in recent years, notably in 2020 and 2023.  There has also been sunny weather on other close dates before and after April 8.  So sunny weather is not unlikely.

But the simple fact – well known in eclipse circles – is that ANY location can have ANY sort of weather on ANY date.  Locations with high probabilities of clear skies have been clouded out, while perpetually cloudy locations have been known to clear out before eclipse time.  No one has any more control over the weather on Eclipse Day than on any other day.  But as I like to say, “God loves an Eclipse Day!”  Things have a way of working themselves out with eclipses. 

The fact is, it’ll be clear and sunny in some places that day but not others.  We’ll get what we get in Cleveland!  So the weather naysayers need to work on their positive attitude!

Here’s a satellite view of what April 8, 2023, looked like along the eclipse path, with clouds over Texas and points south and sunny skies along the infamously murky northern climates.  This goes to show that literally anything can happen!

It boils down to this – whatever happens on Eclipse Day, Cleveland needs to plan our big Eclipse Party anyway.  Because if we do not, and that day turns out to be sunny, we’ll be sorry!  So let’s keep our hopes high!

There are some compelling weather trends that can give Clevelanders hope for promising eclipse weather…. 

If we have a cold winter and Lake Erie freezes, there is a chance for what I call the Reverse Lake Effect.  We all know about the regular lake effect, where warm, moist water vapor rises off the lake in early winter, collides with cold air, and dumps lots of snow on Northeast Ohio.  The opposite happens in early spring when a cold, thawing lake condenses out moisture from warmer air passing over, causing a “reverse” lake effect with clear skies within about 25 miles from the lakeshore while the rest of Ohio is cloudy. So it’s possible that Cuyahoga and the other lakeshore counties can have great eclipse weather even if the rest of Ohio does not.

On the other hand, a warmer winter bodes well for clear eclipse skies.  At the time of this writing (Summer, 2023), the meteorologists have confirmed that an El Nino has formed in the Pacific Ocean.  An El Nino can deliver warm and dry weather to Cleveland and other points north along the path of totality.  However, this might bode ill for Texas and other points south along the path where cold, damp conditions would be foreseeable.  But once again, anything can happen anywhere on Eclipse Day so we all need to be prepared!

And if the local weather doesn’t look encouraging a day or two beforehand, you can always chase the eclipse!

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Good Planning Includes Ordering Eclipse Shades!

Don’t wait!  Demand will spike as Eclipse Day 2024 approaches.  Beat the rush and order your Shades early, for you and your friends and family!