A Reader’s Account of Eclipse “Totality”

by Sharon Rondeau, h/t Robert C. Laity

(Apr. 10, 2024) — Monday’s “total” solar eclipse in the Western New York region was cloudy at the outset, though colorful at its conclusion after the city of Buffalo was plunged into complete darkness when the moon moved squarely between the earth and the sun.

The U.S. “path of totality” began in Texas and traveled through middle Arkansas, southeastern Missouri and Illinois, southern Indiana, northwestern Ohio, a small sliver of northwestern Pennsylvania, then on to Western New York and upstate New England.

From the Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY area, P&E reader Robert C. Laity shared Channel 4‘s coverage with this writer and others Tuesday morning, which had provided a moment-by-moment unfolding of the rare celestial event.

In a dramatic display of nature’s unpredictability, the heavy cloud cover enveloping Buffalo and Niagara Falls, where thousands were gathered to watch, gave way to brilliant color.

In response to our question as to whether he was in the “path of totality” that day, Laity responded Wednesday morning:

Yes. I was in the direct line of it. I witnessed the area get dark. The automatic night lights at the apartment buildings complex behind my house came on for four minutes and them shut off automatically.

At our Zoo, the birds stopped chirping and the crickets started making a racket. The Lions were roaring.

The area saw an 150,000 person increase in population for a couple days.  The road traffic was surprisingly quiet on some streets.

Niagara Falls was a popular viewing area. Both the Canadian and US sides. One of my alma maters Buffalo State College had people in the bleachers watching the festivities.

It was overcast so a peek at the whole thing was a joy to catch. I slept late that day. I woke at around 3:20PM to witness a darkened sky. 

As you may be aware, I stay up all night and sleep during the day. I was in the house when the moon passed between the Sun and the Earth.

Although Connecticut was not in the path of totality, on Monday this writer first observed shortly after 3:00 p.m. EDT a darkening of the distant sky as wispy clouds drifted over the sun on what had been a pleasant spring day. At about 3:15 p.m., the sky and horizon took on the hue of dusk, the birds stopped singing and the peepers took up their nightly spring chorus.

At the same time, lights were suddenly necessary inside the house.

By 3:30 p.m., the sky had lightened again and the birds resumed their chorus, complementing April’s gentle sunshine and the reawakening of life.