Solar eclipse recap: Despite the clouds, it was still a special day in Syracuse

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A total solar eclipse swept across much of New York state Monday, putting communities from Niagara Falls to the Adirondacks into the path of totality.

Let’s face it -- it wasn’t the afternoon many of us had been dreaming of. As the eclipse got closer, the clouds got thicker. There were moments when it felt like an ordinary Central New York day in early April: chilly and gray.

“What kind of eclipse is this?” a group of picnickers shouted at Onondaga Lake Park.

Except that it wasn’t just any Monday.

Hundreds of people gathered on rooftops in downtown Syracuse, spontaneously shouting in the few instances when the clouds parted and a sliver of sun shone through. Generations watched together at Onondaga Lake Park. Many of the few kids that had school this morning stayed home. Thousands got to gawk on the Syracuse Mets field before watching a late-afternoon baseball game.

A 99-year-old woman born on the last total eclipse in Syracuse got to see this one with her family. One couple celebrated their 40th anniversary, with telescopes and college students.

Another couple got engaged:

The lucky ones got to see the sun’s corona, the edges that are visible when the moon completely blocks the light. Others gawked at the bizarre feeling of near darkness at about 3:25 p.m. in Syracuse.

Viewers came from Pennsylvania and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Miami.

Parameswaran Nair, a physicist and researcher at City University of New York, said it was worth the trip to Oswego. “Absolutely,” he said. “We were not disappointed.”

And even though it was nearly impossible to make out much of the eclipse itself, many onlookers said it was worthwhile.

“I did cry a little,” said Brittany Berry after the light began to return. “I love celestial events.”

Below is a timeline of how Central New York experienced the day. The most recent events are at the top.

‘What kind of eclipse is this?’

Megan Rader began preparing for the eclipse three years ago when it was first announced we would experience one here in the Northeast.

A 65-year-old retired chemistry teacher from Glastonbury, Connecticut, she gathered friends and family at a picnic table at Willow Bay Park in Liverpool on Monday.

“I was like this is it, I’ve got to see an eclipse,” Rader said.

They brought cheese and crackers and set up a telescope next to the picnic table. They cheered each time the sun poked through the clouds. They groaned each time it disappeared again. They treated it like a sporting event, and the sun was the home team.

“What kind of eclipse is this?” they shouted, as a small window in the sky closed.

Rader’s family and friends joined her from Acton, Massachusetts and from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They made a weekend of it. They stayed in Seneca Falls. They visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. The went to wineries on the Finger Lakes. They’ll reach Albany tonight, in time to watch the UConn men’s basketball team play for the national championship.

The weekend’s main event for Rader, though, took place in Syracuse. They considered other spots on the path of the eclipse like Burlington, Vermont and Lake Placid, but the local Air B&B options had increased their rates.

Central New York wasn’t so bad, although the reasonable rates were accompanied by the customary clouds. (Rader grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa.)

When she took chemistry, her first teacher told her it wasn’t a subject for young girls. If they stayed in the back of the classroom and stayed quiet, they’d be rewarded with a D.

Her second teacher expected more. So did her third. She struggled at first but, eventually, she found a teacher who made it all click.

“It was a Hallelujah moment,” she said. “I went and changed my major to teaching.”

Rader’s children had always enjoyed exploring the skies with her on telescopes borrowed from the classroom. They enjoyed it so much that, when she retired, they bought her one of her own.

“They loved it,” she said. “Last night we were watching Jupiter. We could see the moons of Jupiter. The grandkids were watching it. When I retired they said, ‘Mom, we don’t have a telescope anymore.’ So this was my gift.”

On Monday she saw a total eclipse surrounded by three generations. Her grandchildren huffed and puffed, making an adorable effort to try to clear the clouds from their grandmother’s view.

Somewhere during the 90 seconds of totality, they parted just enough to give them a glimpse of the corona. Then they enjoyed the skies turning dark in the middle of the day.

“The darkness,” she said, “was awesome.”

The traffic is starting to slow

1/15

Traffic is starting to back up in Syracuse after Monday afternoon’s solar eclipse.

As of 4 p.m., Interstate 81 South is crawling between Exit 22 (Hiawatha Boulevard) and Exit 18 (Almond Street). Interstate 690 East is moving at slow speeds between Exit 10 (Geddes Street) and the Interstate 81 interchange.

The Thruway and Interstate 690 are busy but not showing backups. Onondaga Lake Parkway is busy too.

As of about 4:30 p.m., a crash was blocking the right lane on southbound Interstate 81 at the Interstate 481 interchange in Cicero.

Another corona view in Central NY

The clouds were as dark as the mood at SUNY Oswego 20 minutes before totality. But as the light gradually fell – and the campus streetlights flipped on – the clouds parted for 20 seconds. The crowd of about 75 people on the lawn of the Marano Campus Center cheered in unison.

“Whoa! You can see the corona!” one man exclaimed. “Wow!” a woman shouted.

It took 20 minutes for the skies to dim to darkness, and just a few minutes to brighten to daylight again after totality. Just before totality, a swarm of small bugs zipped through the crowd.

“Great! Now we have clouds and we’re going to get bit,” one girl cried.

But the crowd was spellbound at the totality, as brief as it was spectacular.

Parameswaran Nair, a physicist and researcher at City University of New York, said it was worth the trip. “Absolutely,” he said. “We were not disappointed.”

For Nair and his wife, Dimitra Karabali, who also teaches and researches at CUNY, it was their second total solar eclipse after 2017′s in South Carolina.

“Once you see it you get the bug and then chase them all over the world,” he said. “The next one is in Spain in 2026.”

Nair’s son, Haris, and his girlfriend, Ashley Burns, came all the way from Miami to bundle up in a blanket near the shores of Lake Ontario.

“We’re getting a good look at clouds,” Burns joked before totality. “We’re going to watch the NASA video on the way home.”

Two total eclipses for 99-year-old Theresa Capucilli

Theresa Capucilli was born on the morning of Syracuse’s last total solar eclipse on Jan. 24, 1925, her mother being abandoned while in labor by her doctor who wanted to catch a glimpse.

Capucilli, 99 years old, got her chance to witness her first eclipse today, in her backyard in Westvale, with her daughters. (Theresa is in the red in the above photo.)

Although clouds obscured their view, they made an afternoon out of it with a campfire, snacks, and a chance to be together to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event.

“Any excuse for a gathering,” her daughter Beth Lord said. “This one made history.”

Ottotality

About half an hour before totality, a drum circle run by SU’s Barnes Center started on the Quad, which was packed with students, faculty, babies, dogs and parents, SU grad student Jaden Wilson reported.

Laura Powell, an SU grad, said she drove over five hours from her home in Annapolis, Maryland. She said that she’s lucky that her SU roommate is living in nearby Utica, so she’s staying with her and didn’t have to rent a hotel. She was walking through the quad and found the drum circle which she thought was a nice way to rein in the eclipse.

And Otto, of course, came out for the fun, taking pictures with children and students. After a few pictures, Otto put on his eclipse glasses to safely look up at the sun, student Greta Stuckey reported.

By about 4:30 p.m., SU students started leaving the Quad.

Ni Cai, who lives in the Westcott area, was still trying to sell her ‘Otto Total Eclipse’ T-shirts and stickers. She used this catch phrase: Ottotality.

“I have an affinity for Otto even though I don’t go to SU,” Cai said. “I just thought of this idea and decided to make these homemade T-shirts and stickers.”

Screams at NBT Bank Stadium

Clouds rolled in above the Syracuse Mets ballpark as thousands flooded the warning track on the field just before the darkest moments. “It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” says astrophysicist Meredith Wills over the loudspeaker.

Despite the cloud cover, staff writer Douglass Dowty says the crowd at the ballpark got a glimpse of totality and the corona of the sun behind the moon. Screams erupted as the announcer said: “We have totality” to 6,349 in the stadium.

Eerie and awesome at Wegmans

At about 2:50 p.m., a store employee urged customers to check out, as security began limiting access to the DeWitt store.

The staffers then began playing “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and finally, “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

The employees filed out and gathered where orange cones had been set up, giving them a viewing area safe from any cars on the west side of Wegmans. About 50 workers in total gathered and waited.

As the sky darkened, people put on their glasses and began oohing and aahing.

‘It was eerie,” Robert Stanley said, who traveled from Pennsylvania. “And awesome. We could actually see the part that’s called the diamond right. Well worth it.”

Jason Palmer and his wife and three sons drove from Earlville. “A little disappointing,” he said, “but still exciting.”

Wegmans bakery worker Francis Peczynski said it was an opportunity of a life.

“It was great,” she said. “I was expecting more, but I could see this crescent.”

We’ll be right back

We’re going to take a short break and get on the roof. Be back in a few minutes. Happy eclipse, everyone.

‘The sun is kinda half’

We’re getting so close: It’s almost 3 p.m. and the Yap family are at the Inner Harbor.

“The sun is kinda half, because the moon is kinda covering it,” declared Davin Yap, 7, of Schenectady.

He’s with his siblings, Bria Yap, 9, and Lucas Yap, 10, and dad, Jason.

Hundreds of people are now gathered at the Inner Harbor, director of content Lauren Long reports.

New York says ADK trailhead parking area are full

The New York State Parks have posted to their social media that several state parks have filled to capacity and closed to incoming visitors and traffic.

The NYS DEC has also posted that all of their trailhead parking lots are full and are asking the public not to park on the roadside, only in lots.

The full parks include:

• Robert Wehle
• Chimney Bluffs
• Crown Point
• John Brown Farm
• Selkirk
• Southwick Beach
• Point Au Roche
• Cumberland Bay
• Cayuga Lake
• Seneca Lake
• NYS DEC trailhead parking areas in the Adirondacks

A 40th wedding anniversary

At SUNY Oswego, hundreds of students gathered on the lawn behind the Marano Campus Center, played oversized games of Connect and Jenga, and standing in line 100 or more deep to get free watch party T-shirts.

Out front of the campus center, a smaller contingent of community members gathered, including a couple who met at SUNY Oswego in the 1980s and are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.

“It’s an opportunity we didn’t want to miss,” said Eric Kramer, while his wife, Jeanne, adjusted her camera mounted on a tripod. The couple lives on Long Island.

Clouds grew increasingly dense as the afternoon wore on, but the Kramers, who remember the widely variable climate of their alma mater, remained optimistic.

“I’m hoping we get some lake effect wind to blow all the clouds back to Syracuse,” Eric Kramer said.

After it was all over, the Kramers were elated despite the clouds.

“It was definitely worth it,” Jeanne Kramer said.

“It was the whole experience,” Eric Kramer said. “Totality, the people you meet – everything.”

Last-minute travelers to Syracuse

David Brodin and his wife came from Connecticut to see the eclipse at NBT Bank Stadium. They had seen a partial eclipse at home years ago and knew they needed to see a full eclipse this year. They decided on Syracuse a week ago and bought tickets for the Mets on Saturday, Douglass Dowty reports.

“We knew 7 years ago we were going to see this somewhere,” Brodin said.

He came prepared with a welding glass framed by cardboard to take pictures of the sun using his phone. It gave the moon a greenish tint as it slowly crept in front of the sun around 2:30 p.m.

Plenty of room in Clinton Square

About a dozen people have set up in Clinton Square in Syracuse as of 2:30 p.m., staff writer Timia Cobb reports.

Some people have set up lawn chairs next to the drained skating rink. Others have binoculars or a camera on a tripod.

A picnic with telescopes

Despite the growing clouds, the view at Onondaga Lake Park looked a lot like people ready to picnic. But instead of grills, the county park is dotted with telescopes, staff writer Chris Carlson reports.

There was still plenty of room in the lots at 2:30 p.m. near Willow Bay as county parks employees waved cars in with orange flags.

Some observers set up in the lots to watch but the majority congregated in the park where, moments after totality they were scheduled to run in a 5K.

Most of the license plates in the parking lot are from New York, though some were from Connecticut and New Jersey.

More and more crowds at the MOST

The scene at Syracuse University

The quad at SU is beginning to fill up with students and community members, graduate student Greta Stuckey reports.

The college of Arts and Sciences is hosting solar eclipse related activities (such as bracelet making?).

They also have a tent in the middle of the quad where the SU faculty is giving advice and safety tips before the start of the eclipse.

“Keep your fingers crossed that the clouds go away, said Instructional Lab Manager Sam Sampere. “Don’t look directly at the sun once the eclipse starts because you can burn your retinas.”

Wegmans and weather physics

Two meteorology students, along with their family, are in the parking lot at Wegmans DeWitt, waiting for the eclipse, staff writer Elizabeth Doran reports.

The students, Melodie Martinez and Robert Stanley, are from Millersville University in Pennsylvania. They have relatives nearby, in Vestal. Melodie is minoring in weather physics.

But for viewing, they wanted a place with amenities and a bathroom. Wegmans fits the bill.

Wegmans plans to close stores in the path of totality for a few minutes this afternoon.

The view from the path of totality

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This gallery includes early photos from Mexico, Texas and other places in North America where the eclipse is now passing. We’ll keep updating it as the eclipse progresses.

Lines at Syracuse Mets game

Around 2 p.m., people were waiting to get inside NBT Bank Stadium for the the eclipse, staff writer Douglass Dowty reports. The lines snaked onto the edge of the parking lot, with waits up to 30 minutes long to get in.

The stadium will let fans on the field from 3 to 3:45 p.m.

Syracuse’s Jeanette Epps share her outer space view

Astronaut Jeanette Epps is watching the eclipse pass over North America from her perch in the International Space Station 250 miles above the Earth. Epps grew up in Syracuse and graduated from Corcoran High School. She flew to the space station last month.

Epps joined NASA’s live broadcast of the solar eclipse to answer questions about the experience Monday afternoon. She said she plans on snapping at least one photo from her vantage point in space.

It has started

The Associated Press reported this at 1:58 p.m.:

“The sun is starting to be blocked along the path of a total solar eclipse. Millions along a narrow corridor in North America from Mexico’s Pacific coast to eastern Canada hope for clouds to clear as they wait for totality to reach their location. Mazatlan, Mexico, is in line to be the first place in continental North America to experience totality. In Texas, viewers were happy to see some breaks in clouds.”

So, about that traffic

State and local officials are out in full force today, expecting at some point to help motorists navigate crowded roads, especially on the New York Thruway, Interstate 81 and on state roads in the Adirondacks.

Here in Central New York, we’ve seen almost no gridlock.

But that’s starting to change a little. The traffic on I-81 was backing up from about Interstate 481 to just south of the Onondaga Nation just after noon Monday, according to 511NY traffic maps.

Interstate 690, the Thruway and other sections of I-81 so far have not had any traffic problems.

State police, however, are still forecasting problems later today in Western New York: The New York State Police have warned motorists to plan to be stuck in traffic for between four to 12 hours around Niagara Falls and the City of Good Neighbors — both two of the top destinations for eclipse chasers hoping to catch a prime view of the once-in-a-lifetime event.

Solar party at the Inner Harbor

Crowds began gathering at noon at the Syracuse Inner Harbor, where Cor Development Co. is sponsoring a “solar party on Solar Street.”

Hundreds of people set up lawn chairs and blankets on a grassy area overlooking the water, while food trucks operators did a brisk business. Some families brought children with them to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime event.

Nearby, New York’s largest mall, Destiny USA, is planning to close for a few minutes this afternoon to allow staff to experience the eclipse.

A detailed guide for totality in Syracuse

This is a timeline from NASA that shows what you might expect as the sky darkens and then gradually lightens again. Times are given for downtown Syracuse; they’ll be slightly different closer to the center of the path and whether you’re farther north or south. (And even within the city itself.)

It all begins at about 2:08 p.m.

The park bench that sits on the edge

Steve Featherstone found a park bench at Green Lakes State Park that is on the edge of the path of totality.

Sit on one side of the bench, you experience totality. Sit on the other side, you won’t. (Most people, however, probably won’t be able to tell the difference between 100% and 99.97 totality.)

This, of course, is an estimation. But what an experience for the people out at Green Lakes.

Eclipse tailgating at NBT Bank Stadium

The Syracuse Mets are opening their doors early today to celebrate the eclipse. And the tailgating has started.

The team is giving out free glasses for the first 10,000 people who come. The game against the Worchester Red Sox will start at 5:05 p.m.

Armory Square is filling up

A couple hundred people are waiting at the MOST, Syracuse’s science museum in Armory Square. Some brought tents, others blankets.

The bars, too, are starting to fill up as of about 1:15 p.m., far beyond the Syracuse lunch crowd.

Meanwhile, in Niagara Falls

State officials are expecting thousands to flock to Niagara Falls today.

The weather, though, isn’t quite cooperating. Here’s the latest from the National Weather Service about Western NY:

Science experiments at SUNY Oswego

Staff writer Glenn Coin is at SUNY Oswego today, where students and faculty are releasing weather balloons for 30 hours before and after the eclipse. The balloons collect data on everything from temperature to gravitational waves

Among the phenomena students are studying are those “stratospheric gravity waves,” which are oscillations of the atmosphere from 13 to 24 miles above the earth’s surface. Those waves will be noticeable along the 115-mile-wide shadow path of the moon, which arcs from Mexico to Newfoundland.

“These waves are really important for contributing to our atmospheric circulation, which does affect weather down the line,” said Katleyn Barber, a SUNY Oswego meteorology professor involved in the project.

Once an hour, students are releasing helium-filled balloons about 4 feet in diameter. By the time a balloon reaches its maximum altitude in the thin air, it will have expanded to the size of a small school bus.

A 99-year wait

Here’s a delightful story while we wait: Theresa Capucilli was born during the 1925 eclipse in Syracuse.

She told staff writer Johnathan Croyle she’s planning on watching today’s event with her family in Westvale, a Syracuse suburb.

“Oh, definitely,” she said when asked if she was going to watch the phenomenon on Monday afternoon. “I even have a pair of glasses.”

Five births were recorded at Syracuse hospitals that day in 1925. But Capucilli was born at home, in Solvay.

A Dr. Perry made a house call to handle the delivery and was a bit distracted while performing his medical duties.

“The doctor kept leaving my delivery,” Capucilli said during an interview this week with syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. “He ran out when he realized the eclipse was starting and left my mother in labor.”

Sparse school attendance for eclipse half-day

Most school districts in Onondaga County are off today. Baldwinsville is one of the few that had a half day on Monday. Normally, the district has 95% attendance.

Today? Only about 60% of kids showed up, the district reported. Still all the kids got breakfast and lunch before being dismissed early.

At West Genesee, which also had a half day, it was about the same. About 55% of kids showed, the district said.

Green Lakes is on the edge

Staff writer Steve Featherstone is at Green Lakes State Park, where the park manager says he’s expecting “thousands” to show up, although the parking lot only has room for 1,500 cars.

Why Green Lakes? Because the state park near Syracuse is on the edge of totality. In fact, according to the most recent estimation, the path of the shadow will slice through the park’s beach area.

It’s mind-bending if you consider that a celestial event of this magnitude can be narrowed down to, say, a park bench beside a trail at Green Lakes. (Steve is searching for that park bench.)

Sit on one side of the bench, you experience totality. Sit on the other side, you won’t. (Most people, however, probably won’t be able to tell the difference between 100% and 99.97 totality.)

Plus, Steve reports, really cool stuff happens on the fringe of totality. For instance, the blobs of light called “Baily’s Beads” which flash as the moon slides over the face of the sun, last longer and are more varied than what you might see from the middle of the shadow.

Green Lakes is in fine company among eclipse fringe communities along the length of the totality path, joining places like Hogtown, Indiana; Queen City, Texas; Hearts Content, Newfoundland.

Last-minute weather forecast

If you’re an eclipse optimist, then the latest forecast is partly cloudy.

That means there’s still a chance that later today we’ll get some breaks in the clouds to see the eclipse.

Here’s the latest weather info as of about 11:45 a.m.

Celebrating the solar eclipse

Let’s go! In a little less than 3 hours, Syracuse will be in the path of totality. We’ve already got reporters across the region, including at Onondaga Lake Park, Green Lakes State Park, NBT Bank Stadium, local bars and restaurants and downtown Syracuse.

Here’s our eclipse page. We’ll be updating this all afternoon.

The MOST in Syracuse is ready:

Contributors to this report include: Chris Baker, Julia Carden, Chris Carlson, Don Cazentre, Timia Cobb, Johnathan Croyle, Glenn Coin, Hank Domin, Douglass Dowty, Elizabeth Doran, Steve Featherstone, Sam House, Lauren Long, Charlie Miller, Rick Moriarty, Jon Moss, Dennis Nett, Greta Stuckey, Scott Trimble, Katrina Tulloch, and Jaden Wilson.