National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

During the 1901 to 2000 time period, there were 228 solar eclipses across the globe.  The solar eclipses by category were;

Solar Eclipses: 1901 - 2000

Eclipse Type

Number

Percent

All Eclipses

228

100.0%

Partial

78

34.2%

Annular “full”

73

32.0%

Total

71

31.1%

Hybrid

6

2.6%

 

A partial eclipse is when the moon’s penumbral shadow traverses the earth.

An annular eclipse is when the moon’s antumbral shadow traverses the earth.  The moon appears smaller than the sun resulting in a thick ring of sunlight around the moon.

A total eclipse is when the moon’s umbral shadow traverses the earth.

A hybrid eclipse is when the moon’s umbral and antumbral shadows traverse the earth.

 

A total eclipse is only visible from within the moon’s umbral shadow.

An annular eclipse is only visible from within the moon’s antumbral shadow.

 

Solar eclipses can happen more than once per year.  Below is the number of years when more than one solar eclipse (of all types) occurred;

                                                                          Years with 2 eclipses:  79

                                                                          Years with 3 eclipses:  15

                                                                          Years with 4 eclipses:    5

                                                                          Years with 5 eclipses:    1 (1935)

                                                                          2 eclipses in the same month:  July 2000

 

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses: 1901 to 2000

Extrema Type

Date

Duration

Magnitude

Longest Annular Solar Eclipse

1955 Dec 14

12m 09s

-

Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse

1948 May 09

00m 00s

-

Longest Total Solar Eclipse

1955 Jun 20

07m 08s

-

Shortest Total Solar Eclipse

1968 Sep 22

00m 40s

-

Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse

1909 Jun 17

00m 24s

-

Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse

1986 Oct 03

00m 00s

-

Largest Partial Solar Eclipse

1920 May 18

-

0.97341

Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse

1935 Jan 05

-

0.00126

                                            Magnitude refers to the amount of the sun covered.

 

Below are the total solar eclipses since 1901 that resulted in a partial eclipse occurring across eastern Iowa, northwest and west central Illinois, and far northeast Missouri starting with the most recent total solar eclipse first.  All times in the table below are in CST.

Note: Hourly weather observations slowly became more common in the 1920s and 1930s due to the growing demands of the aviation industry.  However, the observing network was not as extensive as it is today.  Whether or not an eclipse was viewable prior to 1940 is based mainly on the limited observations done at the following Weather Bureau offices; Davenport, Dubuque, and Keokuk.

Date

Burlington

% coverage

 

Cedar Rapids

% coverage

Dubuque

% coverage

Iowa City

% coverage

Quad Cities

% coverage

08/21/2017

94.5

91.3

88.4

92.3

91.5

Time of max coverage (CST)

12:14 PM

12:12 PM

12:13 PM

12:13 PM

12:15 PM

Viewable based on weather

Yes

Barely

Barely

Barely

Barely

 

02/26/1979

80.2

83.2

83.4

82.4

81.2

Time of max coverage (CST)

10:46 AM

10:46 AM

10:48 AM

10:46 AM

10:47 AM

Viewable based on weather

Yes

 

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

07/10/1972

47.2

49.4

52.3

48.7

50.0

Time of max coverage (CST)

2:26 PM

2:23 PM

2:23 PM

2:23 PM

2:25 PM

Viewable based on weather

Likely

 

Maybe

Maybe

Maybe

Maybe

03/07/1970

59.9

56.3

57.2

57.2

59.6

Time of max coverage (CST)

12:19 PM

12:19 PM

12:21 PM

12:19 PM

12:20 PM

Viewable based on weather

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

07/20/1963

64.2

66.8

66.5

66.0

66.9

Time of max coverage (CST)

3:38 PM

3:35 PM

3:35 PM

3:36 PM

3:37 PM

Viewable based on weather

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

08/31/1932

66.4

67.2

69.9

66.9

68.6

Time of max coverage (CST)

2:19 PM

2:16 PM

2:16 PM

2:17 PM

2:19 PM

Viewable based on weather

Yes

Maybe

Maybe

Maybe

Briefly

 

01/24/1925

87.9

90.2

92.4

89.6

90.1

Time of max coverage (CST)

7:54 AM

7:55 AM

7:56 AM

7:55 AM

7:55 AM

Viewable based on weather

No

No

No

No

No

 

09/10/1923

47.0

45.2

43.2

45.7

45.0

Time of max coverage (CST)

3:24 PM

3:22 PM

3:22 PM

3:22 PM

3:24 PM

Viewable based on weather

Likely

Likely

Yes

Likely

Yes

 

 

06/08/1918

80.5

78.2

75.6

78.8

77.9

Time of max coverage (CST)

5:27 PM

5:25 PM

5:24 PM

5:25 PM

5:26 PM

Viewable based on weather

Likely

Likely

Maybe

Likely

Yes

 

02/03/1916

13.6

12.4

12.3

12.7

13.2

Time of max coverage (CST)

9:51 AM

9:51 AM

9:54 AM

9:51 AM

9:53 AM

Viewable based on weather

Maybe

Maybe

Maybe

Maybe

Yes

 

 

Below is how the 1979 and 1963 solar eclipses affected hourly temperatures;

Time (CST)

02/26/1979

Burlington, IA

(ËšF)

Cedar Rapids, IA

(ËšF)

Dubuque, IA

(ËšF)

Moline, IL

(ËšF)

9 AM

20

16

16

21

10 AM

25

22

19

23

11 AM

24

20

18

23

12 PM

27

23

21

24

 

Time (CST)

07/20/1963

Burlington, IA

(ËšF)

Cedar Rapids, IA

(ËšF)

Dubuque, IA

(ËšF)

Moline, IL

(ËšF)

2 PM

83

82

81

84

3 PM

83

83

81

84

4 PM

81

80

79

81

5 PM

83

82

80

82

                                                         Note: Hourly observations for Iowa City did not commence until March 1, 1995.

Compared to the 1963 total solar eclipse, the upcoming total solar eclipse for 2017 will have a larger amount of the sun partially covered (91.6% on average compared to 66.1%).  Weather conditions are the unknown variable.  If skies are sunny or mostly sunny, temperatures may drop 3 to 6 degrees during the maximum eclipse coverage If skies are cloudy, the temperature drop may only be 1 to 3 degrees.

The next total solar eclipse that will partially cover the sun in eastern Iowa, northwest and west central Illinois, and far northeast Missouri will occur on April 8, 2024.