Jason Weingart
Texas Hill Country News
Why the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Will Be Better Than 2017, and Not Simply Because It’s in Texas.
The 2017 total solar eclipse was called the Great American Eclipse. While the event certainly generated a tremendous amount of excitement, it probably wasn’t the greatest eclipse of your lifetime. On April 8, 2024, totality comes to the United States once again. The 2024 total solar eclipse will cut a path from Mexico into South Texas to Northeast Texas before traversing the center of the country and exiting the Northeastern United States.
The path alone makes this eclipse much more anticipated to Texans, who will have to travel hundreds of miles in order to see this year’s solar eclipse. Large populations in the state of Texas within the path of totality include Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Temple, Austin, and San Antonio. The entire Texas Hill Country falls in totality in 2024. Maybe we can name this the “Great Texas Hill Country Eclipse”?
Locations within the red on the map below will experience totality.
Photo: Time and Date
What really makes the 2024 version truly THE Great American Eclipse is the Moon will be even closer to Earth, resulting in a greater duration event. Locations within the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse will experience 100% coverage from mere seconds up to two minutes and forty seconds. In 2024, locations in Texas that fall within the path will experience totality for two minutes to nearly five minutes.
Paths of the two total solar eclipses in the United States.
Photo: National Eclipse
Fun fact: Locations in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky fall in the path of totality for both total solar eclipses.
You can view the exact coverage, start, finish, max, and duration for the 2024 eclipse with an interactive map from Time and Date here. Will you be ready and waiting for the 2024 eclipse? How do you plan to celebrate?
