The Most Amazing Things We Saw During The 2024 Solar Eclipse

Monday's total solar eclipse provided some incredible moments along its 3,300-mile trek from Mazatlan, Mexico, across the United States to Newfoundland, Canada.

H​ere are things that caught our eye most about this historic event.

T​otality

F​irst, despite a rather uncertain cloud forecast, a spectacular view of totality was seen in parts of Texas, including Dallas-Ft. Worth.

And here was the view from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as also experienced by The Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore.

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T​his was one of the few times more attention was paid to the sky than the notably large waterfalls in the background in this photo.

I​n upstate New York, this was a scene not after sunset, but just after 3:30 p.m.

I​n one of the most spectacular timelapses, watch the darkness roll over Lake Champlain, Vermont, like a wave.

True to form for one of the windiest places with weather instruments on Earth, here was a near total eclipse timelapse from New Hampshire's Mount Washington Observatory.

We always love sequence photos during eclipses. This one was from far northern Maine.

E​vents

T​he eclipse happened hours before several baseball games began, including the home opener for the Cleveland Guardians. Not only did fans and players admire the spectacle of stadium lights on in the afternoon, but the host Guardians then shut out the Chicago White Sox, 4-0.

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A​pril 8 was an even bigger day for an Ohio couple who tied the knot during the eclipse in a particularly unforgettable wedding day.

S​atellite Views

S​eeing the moon's shadow pass over Earth from 22,000 miles away tugs at our heartstrings every time. If you start humming the song "Moonshadow" by Yusuf (formerly known as Cat Stevens), we understand.

S​atellite imagery also picked up the temporary fizzling of clouds over northeast Texas, as pointed out by meteorologist and Wisconsin Mesonet manager Chris Vagasky. Basically, less warming from the sun over that brief time squashed convection in the form of cumulus clouds.

T​he eclipse even made it into a technical forecast discussion from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center regarding the threat for severe thunderstorms Monday.

W​eather Changes

A​s meteorologist Jonathan Belles covered in a previous column, this temporary blockage of solar radiation can lead to some interesting weather changes.

F​irst and foremost, temperatures plunged about 5 to 10 degrees during the eclipse. You could watch it happen in this timelapse from the NWS-Indianapolis office.

H​ere was a nice graph from the University of Georgia showing both the dip in the sun's energy and temperature around 2 p.m. EDT in Athens, Georgia.

S​everal weather stations, including those from both the Oklahoma and New York state mesonets also documented a subtle dip in wind speeds. That happens when mixing of air with stronger winds hundreds of feet above the ground is diminished when air near the ground cools, such as what happens at night.

M​iscellaneous Wows

M​orning Brief senior editorial writer Christopher DeWeese tipped us off to this unusual sight of the eclipse and lava in Iceland.

Did you notice some weird shadows on the ground like these? NASA provided the explanation in the post below.

Y​ou may have heard of behavioral changes in animals during an eclipse. Well, Monday's eclipse even affected bee-havior, as you can see below.

Y​es, there were traffic jams in areas that aren't used to them. Live Storms Media chaser Sam Sagnella posted it took him more than six hours to drive from northern Vermont to the state's border with Connecticut.

Finally, we always appreciate a good sense of humor. Here was a cloud-covered "view" of the eclipse from the National Weather Service near New Orleans.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. His lifelong love of meteorology began with a close encounter with a tornado as a child in Wisconsin. He studied physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then completed his Master's degree working with dual-polarization radar and lightning data at Colorado State University. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives.