I can’t be a cirrus cloud!
Some of the hottest destinations to observe celestial wonders are expected to steal the thunder of a rare total solar eclipse due to cloudy weather.
Niagara Falls, New York, is expected to be “very cloudy,” and Erie, Pennsylvania, is expected to have “cloudy skies and a slight chance of rain.” fox weather.
Niagara Falls is widely considered one of the best viewing spots on the eclipse’s 15-state path, and an estimated 1 million people are already expected to flock to the Buffalo area. The city receives an average of 14 million tourists annually.
This famous waterfall is listed by National Geographic as one of the best places to see a solar eclipse, a phenomenon that hasn’t been seen in the area since 1979.
The city is in the path of the moon where it completely blocks the sun for several minutes.
The influx of stargazers to the area has been so intense that Canada pre-emptively declared a state of emergency last month in preparation for the influx of tourists to the falls.
The declaration will allow the City of Ontario, also known as Niagara Falls, to implement additional plans to prepare for traffic congestion, overloaded cellphone networks and increased need for emergency services.
At the time, Niagara Region Chairman Jim Bradley acknowledged the state of emergency was declared “out of an abundance of caution,” but the move was met with pushback from advocacy groups.
The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) filed a notice this week seeking judicial review of the declaration, asking Ontario Premier Doug Ford to intervene.
“CCF is deeply concerned about the proliferation of state of emergency declarations in the absence of a true emergency,” the group said in a statement. global news.
The state of emergency will continue for the time being.
Meanwhile, in Erie, hotels are nearly full as nearly 200,000 people flock to the area, with rooms still available priced at $1,000 a night.
Mayor Joe Shember said: Postal Gazette That’s the largest number of people ever to attend an Ellie event.
The community is expected to be showered with cash, with revenue estimated to reach up to $50 million, but with severe weather forecast, hundreds of thousands of visitors will be inundated with unprecedented deluges. may face.
Despite cloudy skies and rain forecast for the region, officials told the Post-Gazette there will still be much work to do.
“We will continue to experience total darkness, colder temperatures, and nocturnal animals,” VisitErie president John Oliver told the magazine.
