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Update: As of Monday morning, low fog has blanketed San Francisco. If you want to see the solar eclipse, head east. Otherwise, you can watch it via livestream.
As expected, the weather in San Francisco will reportedly be foggy on the morning on the solar eclipse, Monday, August 21.
According to the National Weather Service’s 10-day forecast, there will be “patchy fog before noon,” which could mean an entirely obscured celestial phenomenon. However, Weather Underground predicts a cloudy morning with sun breaking through around 9 a.m. on the morning of the eclipse.
These forecasts are subject to change.
Typical cloud cover on August 21
Using data. for August 21 in the United States from 2001 to 2010, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), working with the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies (NCICS), put together a cloudiness map—or “average historical cloudiness.”
“Historically speaking, cloudiness may factor into each location’s chance for a good viewing. NOAA’s NCEI and the Cooperative Institutes for Climate and Satellites–North Carolina (CICS-NC) reviewed past cloud conditions for August 21,” notes NCEI. “We found that the coasts could be susceptible to cloudier conditions and that increased cloud cover may be possible as the eclipse travels across the country east of the Mississippi River.”
Which is to say, cloudy skies are possible throughout the nation. But locally-speaking, heading to the East Bay might be your best bet.
Karl or shine eclipse events
So what happens if, as expected, fog blankets San Francisco during the eclipse? Well, there’s always the NASA livestream of the eclipse—which the American Museum of Natural History will be broadcasting at the Hayden Planetarium that afternoon.
And be sure to check out The Verge’s comprehensive coverage of the eclipse, who will be livestreaming the event.