Solar eclipse 2017: What will the East Bay’s weather be like?

Monday morning may see fog in the city coinciding with the day’s total solar eclipse. It is San Francisco in the summer, after all.

With that in mind, some sun watchers may plan to decamp for a different collection of ZIP codes rather than risk an obstructed view of a spectacle that won’t come around again for nearly 30 years.

Here’s a look at the Monday morning forecast in the East Bay:

• Alameda County

The National Weather Service says it’s nothing but blue skies smiling at Oakland and the surrounding area during the relevant period, a sunny (and then shady) contrast to the gray day across the bay.

“Mostly sunny, with a high near 77,” is the word for the daylight hours on Monday, with of course an added 100 percent certainty of 75 percent darkness starting around 9:00 a.m. or so.

NOAA’s Cloudiness Map, on the other hand, gives Oakland watchers only a 47.5 percent chance of being able to reasonably discern the event, with “overcast” being the most likely of the five listed cloud cover types for that day.

NOAA calculates this based on historical records of cloud cover in the same spot in year’s prior, so it’s not necessarily a fool-proof system. Hence why it’s called a prediction, of course.

Hayward, on the other hand, has an over 57 percent shot at a clear view that day, according to NOAA, with “clear” being the most likely conditions.

• Contra Costa County

NWS is calling for even sunnier prospects further east on Monday, with nary a cloud nor hovering fog in sight. “Sunny, with a high near 83,” is the word, again with the aforementioned interruption of sunlight notwithstanding.

NOAA gives Concord and the surrounding area an 88.8 percent chance of having a clear view, with virtually no historic precedent for cloud cover. Further south around the Livermore area it’s 86.6 percent.

Clearly the best best for a cosmic view is to beat a path east. But we all know how fickle the Bay Area’s microclimates can be, and no forecast can tell us with certainty what fate is written in the stars (or barometric pressure), so anything could happen.

Luc Viator

• Alameda Forecast [NWS]
• Contra Costa Forecast
• Ready, Set, Eclipse [NOAA]