For the big eclipse on Monday, we are cautiously optimistic.Models are showing a decent upper level ridge over the region, butthere are indications of some increasing moisture through the dayand the potential for isolated showers or thunderstorms, mainlyin the afternoon, It looks like skies will be partly cloudy, withsome scattered cumulus clouds and perhaps some larger patches ofthin cirrus clouds. Specific sky conditions are quite difficultseveral days out, so keep checking back for updates.
Btw. A report from a friend who lives in Bend OR (basically dead center of the track) described it to me tonight as they have turned the town into a full scale Burning Man event.In other news, sounds like Sweetwater TN is completely over sold. Can't wait for the crowds on Monday.
Here in Bend it's mostly quiet and rather smokey at the moment. The forest fire northwest of Bend near Sisters has the skies rather orange. I'm crossing my fingers that the wind will change by Monday morning and send the smoke to the South. I wouldn't be surprised to see substantially depressed turnout in central Oregon because of it though.The highways between the towns of central Oregon have been pretty clear thus far, with the exception of the highway east of Prineville heading to Big Summit Prairie was pretty jammed yesterday. http://www.tripcheck.com has all of ODOT's road cam's if you want to see how traffic is.
Quote from: kevin-rf on 08/19/2017 01:07 amBtw. A report from a friend who lives in Bend OR (basically dead center of the track) described it to me tonight as they have turned the town into a full scale Burning Man event.In other news, sounds like Sweetwater TN is completely over sold. Can't wait for the crowds on Monday.Bend is about 45 min to 1 hr south of the main track, a ~30 min drive from the edge of the totality. I'm heading there on Sunday, looks like some hotels are releasing some more rooms (people cancelling extra bookings?) and I was able to secure a room. Only 5x the normal rate! Hopefully it won't be too crazy.Quote from: yokem55 on 08/19/2017 02:20 amHere in Bend it's mostly quiet and rather smokey at the moment. The forest fire northwest of Bend near Sisters has the skies rather orange. I'm crossing my fingers that the wind will change by Monday morning and send the smoke to the South. I wouldn't be surprised to see substantially depressed turnout in central Oregon because of it though.The highways between the towns of central Oregon have been pretty clear thus far, with the exception of the highway east of Prineville heading to Big Summit Prairie was pretty jammed yesterday. http://www.tripcheck.com has all of ODOT's road cam's if you want to see how traffic is.That's encouraging to hear... It's difficult to know who to believe sometimes. Some predict little traffic to some locations, while others expect a complete mauling and breakdown of all infrastructure in the very same location. I'm hoping for more of the former when I visit Bend for the first time.