(Toronto) Rarely have we so desired a perfectly clear sky – except perhaps for weddings.
Clouds could be what stands – or not – between the sky and the crowds gathered in the “band of totality” of the solar eclipse on Monday afternoon.
Gerald Cheng, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, is reluctant to make specific predictions about what eclipse watchers might expect to see during such a brief period Monday afternoon. Weather forecasts can be very fickle, he recalled in an interview on Friday.
A forecast of cloud cover three days in advance, for a very short period of time, “can be really wrong”, recalls the meteorologist, who has never been so asked to comment on clouds. “Let’s just say that cloud cover is not the reason meteorologists get into the profession,” he admits.
But with all the caveats in mind, Mr. Cheng ventures a brief preliminary forecast above the solar eclipse’s “band of totality.”
And good news for Quebec: forecasts look favorable for regions located on the path of the total eclipse, said Mr. Cheng.
“It seems to be the best conditions, according to our official forecasts and based on the information I have,” he said on Friday. The weather “should be nice” in Montreal and Sherbrooke, based on what he has seen so far.