Cloudy skies tonight could shield the Inland Northwest from the first total lunar eclipse in nearly three years, forecasters said. The eclipse comes within hours of the winter solstice at 3:38 p.m. Tuesday, the official start of winter. The partial phase of tonight’s eclipse begins at 10:33 p.m. The moon enters its total eclipse when the Earth’s shadow passes across the face of the full moon at 11:41 p.m. The total lunar eclipse typically shades the darkened moon in a coppery or rusty glow due to sunlight passing through the Earth’s atmosphere.
Mid-eclipse is at 12:17 a.m. with totality ending at 12:53 a.m. The second partial phase ends at 2:01 a.m.
Forecasters are calling for snow showers before 10 p.m. and clouds after that.
