The two major factors in determining how much of the solar eclipse people in New Jersey will experience starting shortly after 2 p.m. are cloud cover and location.
NASA has a helpful tool where New Jerseyans planning to view the eclipse can enter their zip code and see their percentage of expected coverage, the amount of cloud cover as well as temperature and rain chances.
Since the path of totality will be hundreds of miles north and west of the Garden State, North Jersey would get to see more of the moon covering the sun under optimal conditions. However, forecasters say less cloud cover is expected in South Jersey than North Jersey. During the eclipse, the moon will almost entirely block out the sun.
The best viewing spot in New Jersey — if clouds cooperate — will be the northwestern corner of the state where 93% coverage of the sun is expected in Montague at 3:24 p.m. The eclipse will begin at 2:09 and be over at 4:35 p.m.
In the northeast corner — Alpine — it will be slightly cloudier but the eclipse will reach 90.8% coverage when it peaks at 3:25 p.m. The eclipse will begin at 2:20 p.m. and end at 4:36 p.m.
The eclipse will start at 2:07 p.m. in the southwestern corner of the state — Salem — with 87.4% coverage achieved by 3:23 p.m. and the eclipse concluding at 4:34 p.m.
While still very good, the lowest coverage in the state will be in Cape May — where about 84.5% of the sun will be covered at 3:23 p.m.
Other expected maximum coverage areas in New Jersey for Monday’s eclipse include:
- Newark — 90.2%
- Trenton — 89.1%
- Toms River — 87.4%
- Vineland — 86.5%
The closest cities to New Jersey the path of totality travels through are Buffalo, New York and Burlington, Vermont.
During the last eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017, about 75% of the sun was blocked in New Jersey.
Special eclipse glasses are the only way to safely view the eclipse.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com
