Nodaway County in eclipse’s path

By Editor | July 31, 2017 |

NASA
The NASA map shows the path of the eclipse, time frame and total time the moon will cover the sun across the state of Missouri.

In less than three weeks, The Great American Eclipse will make its way through the continental United States to much fanfare.

Plans have been made by area schools in preparation for the rare eclipse, which will run from Oregon to South Carolina and span 14 states.

While Maryville is just outside of the viewing area, many smaller towns in Nodaway and Andrew counties will have prime viewing locations, while St. Joseph will have one of the longest totality times in the nation since it is located on the centerline of the eclipse path.

Dan McGlaun, who runs Eclipse2017.org, noted there will be plenty of smaller towns in the rural areas that will have a good view of the event.

“You will see something interesting, but they won’t get the full effect of totality,” he said. “Those people could go west or South on 71 and get to places.”

He noted Arkoe, White Cloud, Barnard, Graham and Maitland are among the towns where the eclipse will pass through. The total eclipse will arrive in the area at 1:06 p.m. and end about two minutes later.

The moon will start to cover the sun at 11:40 a.m. and the moon will move off the sun at 2:34 p.m.

“They will see 99 percent of it but to see 100 percent, you will need to be South,” McGlaun said. “White Cloud you will get a 1 minute, 25 seconds of totality, about a minute less than St. Joseph. It is still totality and still really fantastic.”

St. Joseph, at 2 minutes and 38 seconds of totality, is among the highest in the nation. Only a few towns will have more time viewing the eclipse than the town where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended.

McGlaun noted there will be a large party held at Rosecrans Airport and that location will be ‘about the best you can get.’ In response to that, AT&T will bring a Cell on Wheels vehicle to help aide in cell reception during the celestial event. AT&T will also provide similar vehicles statewide in Columbia, Owensville and Washington.

The Missouri Department of Transportation expects 1.2 million people to be traveling the state between Aug. 18-21, likening to the crowd that watched the Kansas City Royals World Series parade in 2015.

MoDOT is encouraging people to not stop on the interstate or highway shoulders, rather using exits ramps is encouraged.

Headlights should be used during the eclipse since it will be dark like nightfall.

All major construction projects will be shut down for the day, MoDOT says, but there will be emergency crews ready if the need arises.

Missouri State Highway Patrol officers will be stationed in 20-mile intervals on Interstate 29 and Interstate 35 during the day.

McGlaun noted the importance of eyewear for the event, which many local places have for sale — as noted in Tom Pinney’s accompanying story. The eclipse will cover 99.9 percent of the sun, but the remaining part will still be enough to damage the eyes. MoDOT noted in its press release to not wear the solar glasses while driving, only during viewing.

The lower 48 states haven’t had this type of eclipse since 1979 and this is the first one to span West to East since 1918, showing the rarity of this event. There were solar eclipses in 1981, 2000 and 2012, while Missouri saw an annular solar eclipse in 1994.

There will be another eclipse in 2024 which will pass through southeast Missouri, McGlaun said.

There will be plenty of locations doing events within driving distance of Maryville for the eclipse.

East Hills Mall in St. Joseph will be hosting a special program leading up to the event.

Greg Anderson, an astronomy educator, will present Cosmic Adventures Traveling Planetarium and give the scientific reasoning behind the eclipse from Aug. 19 to 21.

The Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska, will highlight the Eclipse Explorer Junior Program on Aug. 21 with a program that features guest speaker Bill Nye.

A self-proclaimed eclipse junkie, McGlaun tries to view them anywhere they happen. He has been to China, India, Zimbabwe, French Polynesia and Turkey to see such events. He is planning a trip in 2019 to South America for another eclipse. To date, he has seen 13 total eclipses.

McGlaun will be at Southern Illinois University that day watching from Saluki Stadium.

“I want to see a total eclipse with 75,000 people screaming their heads off in a football stadium; it will be cool,” he said. “I’ve seen them with 10 people, 1,000 people and 10,000 people but never with nearly 100,000.”

“Eclipses aren’t as rare as you think. They happen in out of the way places like Antarctica at times. This eclipse is coming to America, right in our back yard. It is a big deal to get totality in all these little towns. It is a big deal to the towns in the path and that is what is so great about it. This is our chance to show the world there is more in the United States than the Grand Canyon and Disney World and that is a powerful message, and it belongs to middle America.”