Americans traveling this weekend to see the Aug. 21 solar eclipse may have to deal with a forecast of storms that could delay flights or snarl traffic in the South and East.
Thunderstorms and rain showers are predicted both Saturday and Sunday from the Carolinas to the Gulf Coast states, which AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydnowski said might “be troublesome for ground and air travel.”
The storms might be heavy enough to cause flash flooding for a short period of time, which can disrupt ground travel even more, AccuWeather reported. Southern cities that may be affected include Atlanta, New Orleans, Charlotte, and Orlando, especially areas along interstates 10 and 95.
Most areas being traveled in hopes of seeing a full eclipse are not expected to have any travel problems, Fox News reported. Even the anticipated storms will more likely be a nuisance than a big problem, the network said.
Most of the storms are expected between 2 and 10 p.m., but areas that do get storms also could see fog and low clouds the next morning that could present visibility problems until mid-morning, Fox reported.
The solar eclipse is the first one since 1918 with a path of totality stretching across the entire continental U.S. A 70-mile band of totality stretches across Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, a small corner of Kansas, Missouri, the bottom tip of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, the top corner or Georgia, the eastern edge of North Carolina, and South Carolina, Space.com reported.
A partial eclipse will be visible over the rest of the United States. Cloudy weather could obscure the view of the solar eclipse, which will only be total for two to three minutes in most places within the band of totality.
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