HOUSTON — With clouds in the forecast on Monday, the millions of people in the path of Monday’s eclipse across Texas weren’t guaranteed a clear view of the once-in-a-generation celestial event. But with just enough cloud clearing, if you were in the right spot, you could still capture that spectacular show in the sky.
We’ll start in Killeen, where reporter Jason Miles was among the star-gazers hoping for a view of the eclipse and they got it. The clouds cleared just in time.
Houstonian Robert Phillips made the trip to Killeen for the eclipse at a festival at Central Texas College.
“I made reservations at our hotel 13 months ago. I wanted to see this,” he said. “It was unbelievable, I can’t believe we were lucky enough for the clouds to part; incredible!”
Killeen plunged into darkness for about four minutes before what’s known as the “diamond ring” appeared. The sun then shifted back into view.
“The first time I’ve seen a full eclipse,” Phillips said. “Blown away. I was going to wait another 20 years, but thought I’d better watch this one.”
Meteorologist Chita Craft was in Bandera, Texas, which is 30 minutes outside of San Antonio. Clouds moved in just before totality.
“I thought it was amazing,” Rice University Professor Scott Solomon said. “I mean, obviously, we were all hoping for clear skies, but even with clouds, it was magical. It got real dark. I mean, it was dark like night. And that was just like such a creepy, surreal experience and to be with a lot of other people here experiencing it together, I thought it was cool.”
When totality did hit, Craft said the temperature dropped about 12 degrees and the wind shifted.
Meteorologist Kim Castro was in Uvalde, where she said when totality started, there were minutes of stillness, quiet and darkness. She talked to a couple of people there who were in awe of the eclipse, calling it "very moving."
Back home, the weather didn’t dampen the spirits of people from all over Houston and the world. Space Center Houston said the crowd for the watch party was about 50-50 locals and those who came from out of town. KHOU 11’s Zack Tawatari talked to eclipse chasers who came from as far away as New Zealand and Romania for the experience.
Reporter Julissa Garza got to experience the eclipse with Fort Bend County ISD third-graders. You can see her report below.
At the Houston Zoo, all eyes were on the animals to see how they’d react during the solar eclipse. Reporter Adam Bennett was there and he said the giraffes and ostriches briefly ran when the skies got darker, but were pretty calm for most of the eclipse. The next total solar eclipse will be in 20 years. The zoo hopes to use the information they collected Monday will help them when that one rolls around.
Your photos and videos
During the total solar eclipse, many of you had clear views of the eclipse and sent in photos and videos. You can see many of them here.