A total lunar eclipse will peak around 1 a.m. Friday. Wyoming is perfectly positioned to see the complete 65-minute totality, during which the moon will appear to turn blood-red as it moves into the earth’s shadow.
Unfortunately, Wyoming’s weather decided that the best way to augment the eclipse experience was to obscure it. A fast-moving cold front, which will spread snow across the state, will make for a cloudy curtain over the eclipse’s viewing window.
“There’s going to be a lot of clouds,” said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day. “I’m not going to say it’ll be a complete shutout, but unless there’s a break in the clouds, it will be difficult to see anything.”
“That’s Rough”
Max Gilbraith, planetarium coordinator for the University of Wyoming, has been using his degree in atmospheric science to find windows of opportunity to view the eclipse. He didn’t see many.
“We were planning an astronomy lab on the roof, he said, “but it’s not looking too promising in southeast Wyoming.” Unfortunately, I don’t see many windows for the eclipse in Wyoming.”
Day described the incoming system as “a pretty vigorous cold front.” It won’t be as intense as last week’s winter system that dropped several inches of snow in intense waves across Wyoming, but there could still be substantial snow in some places.
“We're gonna see several inches of snow in the mountains, and parts of central and western Wyoming will get about one to three inches,” he said. “It’s not a widespread snow event, and once you get onto the eastern side of the state, it's going to be more wind than snow.”
That’s bad news for amateur astronomers. The fast-moving system is moving across the state at the worst possible time for the eclipse.
“We’re looking at 60% to 70% cloud cover in the areas with the best windows,” Gilbraith said. “Many astrophotographers I know are thinking about traveling quite a distance to get shots of it.
Day had a recommendation of where they could go for a clear shot.
“You’ll have clear skies if you drive to north-central Kansas,” he said.
Wyoming’s Windows
A lunar eclipse is an all-night event, as it takes time for earth’s shadow to fully envelope the moon. At Wyoming’s latitude, it should last for 65 minutes.
The moon will be directly south, halfway up in the night sky. Gilbraith said the best places to catch an unobstructed view of the eclipse are high spots near Casper.
“If someone were to hang out in the parking lot at the Hogadon Ski Area, you might be just above the cloud layer, but that’s just one forecast model,” he said. “There might be some clear spots around the Laramie Range south of Casper. You’ll just have to get lucky.”
Western Wyoming residents might find a viewing window on Togwotee Pass. The downside is that it’s Togwotee Pass, which doesn’t have a history of clear skies and calm conditions during winter weather systems.
A general rule of thumb for optimal stargazing is to get high so views are unobstructed by mountains and rugged terrain. However, Day advised against that strategy for the early morning eclipse.
“There will be some places that will get small accumulations – Casper, Sheridan, Buffalo, Riverton, Evanston, Green River, Pinedale – but it’s going to be patchwork,” he said. “The significant snowfall will be on the mountain slopes, so getting higher to find a window for the eclipse wouldn’t be a great idea.”
However, where there’s a will (and a four-wheel drive vehicle with snow tires) there could be a way. Gilbraith didn’t advise anyone to try their luck but saw a window where someone could find a window without seriously endangering themselves.
“The south side of Casper intrigues me,” he said. “The main snow event shouldn’t start until 6 a.m. Friday, and it’ll be a rain-snow mix until around 10 a.m. Friday,” he said. “If somebody wanted to go up at midnight and get back before 6 a.m., they could have mostly clear roads both ways.”
Don’t Lose Sleep
Unlike total solar eclipses, which require conditions so precise that there won’t be another anywhere over Wyoming until 2084, total lunar eclipses occur more frequently. Gilbraith said anyone disappointed about missing Friday morning’s lunar eclipse should have plenty of opportunities to see others in the future.
“Lunar eclipses happen every year and a half or so,” he said. “It might be worth poking you head outside between midnight and 1 a.m. to see if anything works out, but I wouldn’t lose much sleep over it.”
There could still be something worth seeing, even with the clouds. Because of the dramatic change in the light and color reflected off the moon’s surface, Gilbraith thinks a cloudy eclipse might still be worthwhile.
“The moon always provides some ambient light, silhouetting the clouds,” he said. “As that light slowly disappears, you might get some of that red reflection through the clouds. That’s still kind of fun.”
Getting a full night’s sleep might be advantageous for many Wyomingites. They’ll undoubtedly wake up to winter weather conditions on Friday, which means slick roads, icy surfaces and strong winds.
“Friday and Saturday will be a lot colder than it’s been for most of this week,” Day said. “This front is moving west to east very fast. It’ll reach western Wyoming tonight, central Wyoming by 6 a.m. tomorrow, and be over Nebraska by late afternoon. That’s how quick this thing is moving.”
Unless someone’s willing to risk a snowy ascent into the mountains, the forecast isn’t great for casual eclipse enthusiasts hoping to stand in their backyards to see the blood-red totality of this lunar eclipse. If they’re lucky, Day believes they might find a momentary window to catch a glimpse.
“A lot of the clouds forecasted for tonight are high, thin clouds,” he said. “It might make things opaque, but you might be able to see the moon a little bit through those clouds, but overall, the chances of a good view are pretty poor.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
