We will have a near-total lunar eclipse Thursday night, August 27-28, but there may be some difficulties viewing it. Let's talk about our next weather maker and how that will impact our viewing conditions.
If you are interested in learning more about the timing and details of the partial lunar eclipse, check out this information from meteorologist WRAL meteorologist Chris Michaels and NASA ambassador Tony Rice!
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The best time to watch will be between midnight and 12:30 a.m. Friday as the Moon moves deepest into Earth's shadow. Maximum eclipse will occur around 12:13 a.m. Friday, Aug. 28.
A cold front is approaching the area, but it will not be right over us Thursday night. The main concern is what happens before the front arrives.
At the upper levels of our atmosphere, moisture will increase throughout the day. This will allow for high clouds to build over the region first, then we'll see more low and mid-level clouds on Friday.
Even with high cloud cover, this can increase the opacity and make it hard to clearly see objects on the other side of the clouds.
Some models keep this high cloud cover in place throughout the night while others bring a few breaks here and there. We are hoping for the latter solution!
If you need a quick and easy way to see where the breaks in the clouds will be so you can get the best view of the eclipse, download the WRAL Weather App and head to the radar section. Then in radar view menu, select "cloud cover."
