
Travel the path of the solar eclipse - emamd
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/mapping-the-2017-eclipse/
======
tzs
> Unfortunately for residents of Oregon’s historically cloudy coast, NOAA
> scientists have calculated the chances of a clear day at about 44 percent.

...

> A few hours east, however, the odds increase dramatically. Because the
> Cascade Range creates a significant rain shadow across central and eastern
> Oregon, chances are high that the view will be unobstructed.

How good are the short term forecasts for Oregon? If the day before the
forecast for an area west of the Cascades calls for a clear day, is that
almost always right?

My plan currently is to drive to Oregon from the Seattle area the day before,
and head to one of (1) the Salem/Albany area, (2) the Madras area, or (3)
somewhere around where the 84 crosses the centerline of totality, with the
choice being based on the weather forecasts at the time.

~~~
repiret
In Eastern Oregon, summer weather is either clear or thunderstorms;
thunderstorms develop in the afternoon, while the eclipse is in the morning.
You're exceptionally likely to get a clear day East of the Cascades.

I leave in rural Eastern Oregon. The population here is expected to swell by a
factor of 5-10x during the eclipse, and this is expected to overwhelm local
services. If you're headed to rural Oregon -- or probably any non-metropolitan
area nation-wide -- to see the eclipse, I would recommend arriving at least
two days early, plan on staying up to two days afterward, bring with you all
the food and gas you'll need, and try to avoid any critical illness or injury.

Speaking specifically of Madras, its East of the Cascades, so the weather
should be good. There's a rumor that they're planning to make the highways
one-way between Madras, Bend and Prineville to accommodate the extra traffic.
I wouldn't want to travel by car in that area during the eclipse.

~~~
Diederich
We reserved an RV back in October with the intent of seeing the eclipse
somewhere in your neck of the woods.

We're picking it up a full 3 days ahead of time. We're going to overnight
around Shasta, and arrive almost two full days before the eclipse. We will be
100% self sufficient in the RV. That's the plan at least. (:

Here are some questions: how appropriate is it for us to park in 'some random
place' for a couple of days somewhere up there?

Would you recommend being more 'east' or 'west' along the line of totality?

Do you mind me peppering you with a lot of other questions? (:

Thanks friend!

~~~
timmaah
> how appropriate is it for us to park in 'some random place' for a couple of
> days somewhere up there?

Public lands have certain areas you can disperse camp. Other than that it is
usually not ok to just random camp.

These won't be ordinary times though. I'd _expect_ people will be looking the
other way or be too busy to worry about running off RV's in parking lots.

We are planning on find a spot in Idaho a week and a half before hand. Hoping
the weather holds out. It won't be easy to travel day of from where we picked.

~~~
Diederich
> Public lands have certain areas you can disperse camp. Other than that it is
> usually not ok to just random camp.

Definitely understood!

There is, apparently, quite a lot of public land in eastern Oregon. I was
thinking about the Unity area, give or take.

~~~
repiret
I'm not super familiar with Unity, but based on the satellite photos, I think
Forrest Road 6015 will be traversable with a Class C; you should be able to
find a fine place to came out there. You should call up the Prairie City
Ranger District too, they'll know more local specifics than anything you can
find online.

------
jmhobbs
Not a journalism piece, but this is a great map for getting details along the
path;

[http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017...](http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html)

~~~
emamd
We actually used the data on this site for a related graphic here:
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/eclipse/?ut...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/eclipse/?utm_term=.a759052397cd)

------
onychomys
If, like me, you're planning on being on the Wind River Reservation for it,
don't worry too much about the permit you supposedly need. The town of
Pavillion is charging five bucks for parking, but that's literally the only
thing I can find anywhere that mentions any cost at all. This site, which is
linked to by the city of Riverton, seems pretty official, and doesn't mention
permits of any sort (...guess we'll see on eclipse day!):

[http://www.windrivereclipse.org/](http://www.windrivereclipse.org/)

------
dpflan
This is a nice idea. NASA has created copious maps too using various resources
to ensure accuracy. You can traverse and explore the path too. Interactive
maps seem nicer than a linked list of screenshots in my opinion.

> [https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/](https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/)

> [https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-
> maps](https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-maps)

------
euroclydon
I love North America! I feel privileged to live here and have access to the
Interstate System to travel across such varied topology.

~~~
Kuberkibo
The governments of the countries built them.

Engineering solved the issues of building roads over varied terrain
efficiently.

You should give back instead of just "feeling privileged".

~~~
learc83
What was the purpose of this comment? Since when does "feeling privilaged"
imply not "giving back"?

~~~
Kuberkibo
Focus on what you want, you are in control.

I'm not interested in what easily distracts you.

~~~
learc83
Please try to maintain a higher level of discourse, or at least respond
coherently. This isn't reddit.

------
mkstowegnv
I started a group with a long shot dream that some day total solar eclipses
will be properly celebrated in the form of giant high tech festivals
[http://shadow.dance](http://shadow.dance). But in addition to celebration,
they are opportunities for somber reflection on history. Any arbitrary long
path anywhere on earth will include historic sites that reveal depressingly
dark human behavior but the Aug 21 path is remarkable in that it includes the
most important historic sites for almost all the dark aspects of US history,
including the Minidoka Internment Camp, Fort Laramie where the Sioux were
falsely promised the Black Hills, The Trail of Tears and Sullivan’s Island
(North America’s largest slaveport). (The most detailed map is on p 6 of the
detailed technical proposal which is 3 clicks in – the 16 sites still sadden
me when I look at them.) Readers here could be a big help for our project
which was unable to get support for our 2017 ambitions but hopes to find
fruition in the 2024 Mexico US Canada eclipse – contact information on the web
pages.

~~~
lomnakkus
I may just be a bit thick, but what's the significance of Aug 21 in this? (In
plain terms, if you can.)

Just for context: I _have_ actually observed a total Solar eclipse, and while
it was pretty significant and "awesome" in confirming my (philosophical term:)
belief in Science[1], it -- in no way -- implied much else.

[1] It was predicted at least 2 years in advance... which is _astounding_
given the speed at which the earth is hurtling around its orbit, etc. I don't
think they even needed much more than Newton's laws for that prediction.

~~~
mkstowegnv
Sorry I do not really understand your question. I hope I made it clear that I
do not attach any supernatural significance to the fact that the Aug 21
eclipse includes "dark" history in its path. By chance it includes historical
sites that most people have heard of, and it is a shame that we couldn't drum
up some luminaries to talk about them and emphasize the common themes - humans
are at their worst engaging in horrors that you hate to think about - when:
bigotry is widely accepted, when there is assymetry of power between groups,
when ruthlessness in the pursuit of profit and power is not condemned and when
the actions remain out of sight and there is no investigative journalism to
reveal them. If we are of good conscience and do not want to repeat our past
then we must constantly be on guard against those factors.

~~~
lomnakkus
Oh, OK, I apologize. I think it might just have been the phrasing of your
original comment that confused me. I definitely think it's a good idea to drum
up a bit of interest in history, historical sites, etc. I _will_ say, however,
that the look of the webpage you pointed to did induce a little bit of a
"cranky" vibe just because of the look, big fonts, etc. If you control it, you
might want to tone it down it a down, or if you don't... just avoid linking to
it. What you just posted is _much_ more interesting and informative than that
page.

------
chippy
The description in the article says Google Earth (not Google Maps) and that
they were exported (not screenshotted). So not at all like the heavily
editorialised title.

------
tzs
They should have mentioned which of the listed places have an airport that is
served by one or more major airlines. Those places provide the opportunity of
simply flying in, hanging out at the airport until the eclipse and watching
from there, and then flying home.

I checked a few, looking for round trip flights from Seattle leaving Seattle
the day before and returning the day of the eclipse. For some it may be
possible to arrive the morning of the eclipse, but I didn't get into
sufficient detail to check that.

Casper, WY: many flights, around $800. One week later is around $300, so it
looks like the eclipse has driven prices up.

St. Joseph, MO: Many flights, $400-500, including a few nonstop so only 3.5
hours (as opposed to 6 to 7 for all the ones with a stop). (I did check same
day for this one. There are leaving very early Monday morning from Seattle
arriving before the eclipse).

Carbondale, IL: many flights, $700ish and up.

Metropolis, IL: Many, $1000ish.

Nashville, TN: Many, $500ish.

Clemson, SC: Many, $600-2000.

That was just cities that the article highlighted. There are also many fairly
significant cities, some near the center of totality, that they left out.
Columbia, SC (which has many flights staring at $700), for example.

~~~
idlewords
St. Louis is a good hub near the eclipse track. You can rent a cheap car and
head right into the New Madrid Seismic Zone to watch the eclipse from scenic
Chester, IL!

[http://www.idlewords.com/2015/07/confronting_new_madrid.htm](http://www.idlewords.com/2015/07/confronting_new_madrid.htm)

~~~
tzs
Will you be able to rent a cheap car, though? I'd expect that rental cars are
going to be like hotels--greatly jacked up in price on rental periods that
include the eclipse, if any are even still available.

~~~
idlewords
Current weekly price around that date at STL is ~$231

------
Klathmon
I really like the attention to detail where the shape of the "shadow of the
sun" changes based on the distance from the equator.

~~~
theoh
Though it can be thought of as varying with latitude in this case, it's much
more complicated than that for eclipses in general. So latitude can work as a
pragmatic proxy variable in this case but not for all eclipses: e.g.
[http://www.hk-mcc.net/david/eclipse/image/se20080207.GIF](http://www.hk-
mcc.net/david/eclipse/image/se20080207.GIF)

Moon's orbit is not on the equator (closer to the ecliptic), the Sun isn't
fixed in the sky, etc.

~~~
Klathmon
That's cool, I didn't even think about that!

So in your opinion does the linked article (it feels wrong to call it that...)
accurately depict this (or at least depict it accurately enough that it's not
deceiving)? Or like you kind of hinted at, is it close enough during this
particular eclipse to not really matter?

------
amelius
This is a nice opportunity for navigation software to set themselves apart:
let the navigation along the given path be time-constrained. Thus, if the user
is lagging behind, send them to a highway; if the user is ahead schedule, let
them wait for a while.

~~~
xtreme
Cars, and even planes are way too slow to track the moon's shadow across
earth. The speed seems to vary from ~1500-3000 mph depending on how close you
are to the equator. An SR-71 Blackbird would have a hard time keeping up with
that.

~~~
idlewords
The Concorde flew the path of totality in 1973, remaining in the shadow for 74
minutes.

[https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8q8qwk/the-
concor...](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8q8qwk/the-concorde-and-
the-longest-solar-eclipse)

------
Mz
It is also peppered with nice little sound bites of cool info:

 _McCool Junction, Neb., won’t get McCold, but the air temperature during
totality drops by an average of about 12 degrees Fahrenheit, according to
astrophysicist Fred Espenak._

------
xyclos
No need to travel, watch the whole event live from the comfort of your own
device: [http://eclipse.stream.live/](http://eclipse.stream.live/)

~~~
idlewords
Or you can just slowly blink and keep your eyes closed for two minutes, from
the comfort of your chair.

It's really worth it to see this in person. There's nothing like it in the
world.

~~~
xyclos
Probably right, and I do intend on seeing it in person when it gets to SC.
Sadly, not everyone will have that opportunity.

------
tomkat0789
As somebody planning on watching it from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, I
should point out that the clouds in question will probably stick to the
immediate coast. It'll be the sunny dry season past the first range of
mountains.

I think my favorite little blurb was learning of Carhenge in a place just west
of nowhere in Nebraska:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carhenge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carhenge)

------
desireco42
Just booked my hotel near Carbondale to go with my family. Prices in the area
are INSANE! I am genuinely excited and can't wait to see it. I hope weather
will be nice.

Look forward to hang around huge group of people and enjoy the phenomenon.

------
cwkoss
Relevant xkcd [https://xkcd.com/1868/](https://xkcd.com/1868/)

------
losteverything
Rent a convertible

------
iaw
Original title: Travel the path of the solar eclipse

~~~
sctb
Thanks, we've updated the submission title from “We built this 2017 solar
eclipse map starting with 73 Google Maps screenshots”.

------
hnau
the orientation is horrible. why is north right-ish? just no.

~~~
Raphmedia
There is a minimap in the upper right corner to help you orient yourself.

~~~
hnau
the minimap is oriented differently (north is up) whereas the main map view is
not; that just contributes to the spatially confusing presentation in my
opninion. maybe a rectangle of the full map fov along the minimap path rather
than a circle would help mitigate this, I don't know... it's also following
the path of the eclipse backwards, which is also distracting.

