Good Monday morning!

Many of you on the Avlaon awoke to a “surprise” dose of snow overnight. To be honest I didn’t look at the forecast very closely yesterday but from what I did look it, nothing showed this much snow overnight. This winter just doesn’t want to go without giving up a fight it seems!

Radar imagery suggests the snow is moving back offshore, and short-range forecasts indicate that it will continue as well. Some areas of the Southern Shore may see the snow sticking around into the early afternoon. The snow should end in the Metro after 9 or 10 AM. That being said, it should get lighter, and as the sun starts to do its thing, temperatures get a bit above 0. Roads should become wetter than snowy and slushy in short order.

The rest of today will generally be cloudy with light snow and/or showers on the Avalon. Temperatures will hover near or above the freezing mark. Cloudy skies will also be present in the Big Land, and temperatures will also be near the freezing mark. Between those two areas, there should be some sunshine today, which will set some areas up very well for seeing the solar eclipse later today and this evening!

Solar Eclipse Preview

All areas of the Province will be able to see the Solar Eclipse… however that is dependent on clear, or at the very least, partly clear skies. Sadly that will not be the case today as cloud cover looks to be extensive over parts of Labrador and the Avalon Peninsula.

Short-range computer guidance continues to indicate that a large swath of western, southern, interior, central, and eastern Newfoundland (not the Avalon) will have a very good chance of seeing a period of clear clear skies around the time of our eclipse today. The partial eclipse starts around 4 and ends around 6. The total eclipse (or totality) will be for a few minutes, around 5:12 to 5:15, depending on where you are on the Island. Under totality, it will get completely dark as the moon fully transits the sun. THe narrow swath on the image above will see that. Here is a better look at what areas will experience this celestial event in its full glory!

Now this area will get dark no matter what. And dark for varying amounts of time depending on how close to the centre of the shadow one is. So the outer edges of the dark path (above) will have shorter totality times than the areas closer to the centreline.

During totality, the Sun’s corona (outer edge) will be visible on the outside of the moon’s shadow. If you’re watching an eclipse, this is the ONLY time you can look at it without eye protection. Before and after this, and if you’re in an area only seeing a partial eclipse, you must view it with eye protection. Keep in mind the sun has no more power today than it does on a normal day. But you cannot look at the sun with your naked eye and see this. The sun is too bright and it WILL damage your eyes. You need eye protection. The image below shows what it will look like IF we can see the sun.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that viewing conditions will improve for many areas later today, and the some short-range guidance suggests that. If I were to chase this thing today, I’d set up somewhere between Clarenville and Gander and hope for the best.

I’ll have forecast updates for you throughout the day. On top of that, we will have live coverage of the eclipse starting at 4:30 on NTV and NTV+. We have a live show I’m hosting and cannot wait to bring you! So be sure to download the app if you don’t have it on your smartphone, and also, you can watch it on our website and on an actual TV channel.

See you then!