Why you should book three days in April 2024—before everyone else does
Forget Memorial Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving: what are you doing on Monday, April 8, 2024?
On that day, as many as 50 million—and definitely 32 million—people in the U.S. will look up to the sky and see something that tingles. Another 10 million in Mexico and Canada will also have nature’s most incredible experience – total during a rare total solar eclipse.
However, the requirements to travel are so specific that you should book your time off now and get your travel plans in place as soon as possible. It’s only 100 days from today!
After all, there’s already a rush for hotel rooms, and experts predict it will be like 50 Super Bowls happening at the same time.
If you’re not already in or near the path of totality, you’ll need to take off work on Sunday, April 7, and Tuesday, April 9, so you can get into your seat ahead of time, well before the last-minute rush. block the streets — and leave the next morning when the streets have calmed down.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2024 total solar eclipse:
Totality is coming to America
A total solar eclipse is coming to North America – and everyone will want to be there. Such an event last happened on April 21, 2017, but don’t be fooled.
Total solar eclipses — when the moon blocks the sun in perfect alignment and the sky goes dark for a few minutes — happen in the same spot on Earth about every 375 years. Of course, it’s less than that for a continent the size of North America, but the moon’s shadow won’t fall over contiguous US states again until 2044. It’s 2045 until there’s another total solar eclipse like the one in 2024.
Great American Eclipse
The last event in 2017, the “Great American Eclipse,” was massive, and 2024 will be even more significant. Then, 2 minutes and 40 seconds of totality—daytime darkness—occurred in parts of 14 contiguous US states: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Those within the narrow path of totality could remove their eclipse glasses for a few minutes to see the sun’s white outer atmosphere, its corona, glowing
as it hit the whole. For many, the experience of seeing the sun for the first time—a star hanging in space, looking like a black hole in the sky—was profound.
The path of totality on April 8, 2024.
Path Of Totality 2024
And it’s about to happen again, but this time for up to 4 minutes 28 seconds. This time, the path of totality—115 miles wide, on average—will cross parts of three states in northern Mexico, 15 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces:
- Mexico: Sinaloa, Durango and Coahuila.
- USA: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
- Canada: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.
Only those on the path will experience wholeness. Everyone else in North America will only see a partial solar eclipse through solar eclipse glasses.
Eclipse Vs. The Masters Vs March Madness
If you’re planning to see Golf’s Masters in Augusta, Georgia in 2024, think again. It may be one of the four major men’s golf championships in professional golf, but with only a 76% partial solar eclipse, you don’t want to be anywhere near Augusta on April 8, 2024. Likewise, the March Madness 2024 NCAA basketball championship game ends on Monday April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which has only a 63% partial solar eclipse.
Ignore anywhere on this interactive map that is not in the path of totality—the pink lines (with the central blue line giving you the most time in the moon’s shadow.
There won’t be much to celebrate at Augusta National Golf Club on April 8 — just the certainty that … [+]
Rare Totality in North America
For geographic and chronological context, the following total solar eclipses after April 8, 2024 are:
North Americans have been given a golden opportunity to experience totality—so book those three days off and get planning!
I’m an eclipse expert—its editor WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and its author The Complete Guide to the Great North American Eclipse of April 8, 2024. For the latest on the total solar eclipse—including travel and accommodation options—please register or check out my main stream regularly for new articles.
I wish you clear skies and open eyes.
