Clouds To Block View Of Total Lunar Eclipse Outlook Could Improve If Storm Is Slow, Weaker Than Expected

Thu., Jan. 20, 2000

By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com (509) 459-5454

Tonight’s total lunar eclipse - the first big celestial show of the new millennium - probably will be blacked out in the Inland Northwest.

The National Weather Service in Spokane is forecasting clouds and a chance of snow when the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow this evening.

“It will not be a crisp, clear, clean view,” said Milt Maas, meteorologist with the weather service. “At best, it will be a murky view.”

The full moon rises this afternoon at 4:16 p.m., just before sunset at 4:32 p.m. As the moon climbs into the sky, its orbit will take it into the Earth’s shadow starting at 7:01 p.m.

The moon will darken as the shadow spills across its face. At totality, sunlight diffused through the Earth’s atmosphere will turn the moon into a warm, glowing ball.

The soft reddish color is similar to that of a fading sunset.

Totality starts at 8:05 p.m., and will last until 9:22 p.m. The moon will be free of the Earth’s shadow at 11:24 p.m.

If it’s cloudy, and there is no moon, don’t despair. Another lunar eclipse will occur over the West Coast on July 16.

The last total lunar eclipse visible in the United States was in September 1996.

Astronomers in Spokane may gather tonight if the skies are clear, but there are no planned events, a spokesman for the astronomy club in Spokane said.

Anyone who plans to be outside should dress warmly. Temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-20s throughout the evening.

A weak storm off the Pacific coast is expected to end three consecutive days of fair weather in the Inland Northwest.

Initially, the storm will bring thin clouds at higher elevations, but the overcast will thicken as time passes. The only hope to see the moon is if the storm is weaker than expected or if it is slow in arriving, Maas said.

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