The next total solar eclipse is in April and people already have travel plans

Next month, Rick Kupfer will travel to Texas Hill Country for the first time. He’ll set up some lawn chairs about an hour northwest of Austin near a place where the Buchanan Dam holds back the Colorado River and where for more than four minutes on April 8 the afternoon sun will turn coal black.

It’s the second trip for the Boynton Beach resident into the shadow of a total solar eclipse after a 2017 experience near Casper, Wyoming where the daytime twinkle of stars and pearly corona behind Earth’s only natural satellite were on display for two and a half minutes.  

“It looks like there is a big hole in the sky, like a big black hole in the sky,” Kupfer said. “We are so lucky that this is happening in our lifetime. It’s so rare, it’s exhilarating.”

Before 2017, the last total solar eclipse to be seen by a portion of the United States was a cloud-plagued event in 1979. After April 8, the next cosmic super show in the continental 48 won’t be until 2045.

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In Palm Beach County, which is more than 1,000 miles from the eastern edge of the April 8th path of totality, about 50% of the sun will be covered by the moon.

That’s why for so-called “shadow chasers,” plans to reach next month’s 115-mile-wide path of totality from the sandy beaches of Mazatlan through the valleys of Newfoundland have been months, even years, in the making.

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Kupfer, 71, said he made reservations nearly a year in advance at a short-term rental in Austin, only to have the owner cancel several months ago because, he believes, they realized they could charge more for a stay during the eclipse. Kupfer booked a second rental for a “very good price,” then was canceled again.

“The one we’re in now is priced more toward what it should probably be for the eclipse,” Kupfer said.

The area in the Texas Hill Country where Kupfer and his wife are headed was strategically chosen. It will experience four minutes and 25 seconds of totality and has low chances of rain and clouds in early April, according to Astronomy.com.

Meteorologist Orlando Bermudez with the National Weather Service in New Braunfels, Texas, said many people are traveling west of Austin to Kerrville where NASA is hosting an eclipse festival on April 8. Although rainy season begins in April, Bermudez said it doesn’t ramp up until May, and while prevailing southerly winds can increase morning clouds in spring, they usually clear by afternoon.

The website Eclipsophile.com considered this year’s El Niño in making weather predictions for April 8, looking at satellite measurements of cloud cover and focusing on Aprils that follow an El Niño winter.

It found Texas was the most likely to benefit from the current El Niño with clearer April skies than other areas in the eclipse path.

“It would be a real bummer to get clouded out,” Kupfer said.  

Then something amazing happened:“Dear God, go away!” someone yelled at the cloud covering the eclipse

Kerrville is where Boynton Beach resident and retired astronomy professor Sam Storch, 75, is headed with a group of fellow shadow chasers. In 2017, he went to Driggs, Idaho, west of Grand Teton National Park, to watch the eclipse, which was the first in 100 years to cross the entire country.

“I can think of only one other experience that was personally as intense as seeing totality and that would be actually seeing my first child literally emerge from the womb and be placed in my arms,” Storch said. “That was the only thing as intense as totality.”

North of Austin in Bell County, Texas, officials issued a state of emergency in February to prepare for a crush of eclipse seekers that could double the county’s population of 400,000. The issuance, in part, requires landowners who plan to lease space or host parties of 50 or more people to register the event with the county and provide site plans and designate routes for emergency vehicles.

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Florida's closest recent recorded brush with a full solar eclipse occurred in 1970 when North Florida fell within the moon's shadow.

Next month, Pensacola will see about 76% of the sun covered by the moon.

The coverage decreases the farther south you go so that West Palm Beach will see about half of the sun covered beginning at 1:48 p.m. Maximum coverage will occur at 3:03 p.m.

Several South Florida observatories will be open for the eclipse, including the Marmot Observatory at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach, Florida Atlantic University’s observatory in Boca Raton and the Fox Astronomical Observatory in Sunrise.

Save your eyes: Take precautions when watching solar eclipse

There will be a limited amount of solar eclipse glasses available at each event. It is important never to look at the sun during an eclipse without appropriate eye protection except during the few moments of totality when the moon completely blocks the sun's face. Normal sunglasses — even those with the darkest lenses — aren’t enough to protect your eyes from damaging rays.

It’s not that the sun is any stronger during an eclipse, but where you would squint, blink and turn away from the full sun, it can be more comfortable to look at the sun as the moon moves over the bright disk.

The next total solar eclipse that crosses the entire continental United States is Aug. 12, 2045. Its path will go from Northern California through Florida with most of the Sunshine State in the path of totality.

“Nowhere else in our solar system has anything like this,” said FAU astronomer Eric Vandernoot, noting the unique sun, moon and Earth configuration that allows for a total solar eclipse. “We have so much perfection set up for us.”

Kimberly Miller is a veteran journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida's environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism: Subscribe today.