America’s total solar eclipse is on Monday and excitement is brewing across the U.S., from Texas to Maine, for the moment when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and casts a 115-mile-wide shadow on Earth‘s surface that will plunge tens of millions of people into darkness in the path of totality.
While the weather for the total solar eclipse is looking pristine in some parts of the country, there is a risk of severe weather across portions of the South from Texas to Arkansas that could put solar eclipse viewing in jeopardy.
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The severe weather threat in the southern Plains and the South on Monday expanded, and there’s now a risk of thunderstorms developing that could produce large hail, damaging wind gusts and even tornadoes along the eclipse’s path of totality in Texas and Arkansas.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed more than 20 million people in a Level 2 out of 5 risk on its 5-point severe thunderstorm risk scale, which includes cities along the path of totality like San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Dallas and Texarkana in Texas.
Little Rock, Arkansas, is also at risk of seeing severe weather on Monday, but the severe weather risk there is slightly lower.
Millions of people in the path of totality in those areas should prepare for the possibility of severe weather, including downloading the free FOX Weather app and enabling notifications to receive important severe weather alerts should any be issued on Monday.
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Elsewhere, the forecasts for the total solar eclipse show that while it will be a nail-biter for good viewing conditions in parts of the southern U.S., it appears that the Ohio Valley, the Northeast and New England have more optimistic forecasts.
Based on the latest information, the FOX Forecast Center is closely monitoring the southern Plains states, where computer forecast models continue to show the threat of widespread cloud cover.
HOW TO SAFELY WATCH THE 2024 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
While millions of people in the southern Plains and South may need to dodge severe weather to stay safe on Monday, millions more will need to take precautions to protect their eyes to view the total solar eclipse.
Eye protection is essential, and to safely view the total solar eclipse on Monday, you’ll need glasses with solar filters, also known as eclipse glasses. You may even be able to use a welding helmet or goggles if they’re Shade 12 or higher, according to NASA.
Your eyes could receive permanent damage if the proper protection isn’t worn while looking at the solar eclipse. In fact, looking at the Sun during the solar eclipse for just 20 seconds caused permanent eye damage to a New York woman after the last total solar eclipse in 2017.
The young woman’s vision was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left before the eclipse. Within four hours of looking at the sun, she said her vision was blurry and distorted in both eyes, and the only color she could see was black.
Ophthalmologists fear more people could receive the same type of eye damage during the solar eclipse on Monday.
“The patient actually looked at the sun with glasses that she thought were protective, and in that case, they weren’t protective,” said Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, vitreoretinal surgeon of the Ear and Eye Infirmary of Mount Sinai. “She ended up having damage to the retina, which is like the camera film of the eye, and unfortunately, we’re not able to fix that kind of damage.”