Millions of people will raise their heads to the sky on Monday, marveling at the total solar eclipse. The moon will cross the sun and block its light for a few moments, a communal celestial experience that won’t be accessible to people in the United States, Canada or Mexico again for decades.
The path of the total solar eclipse — the space where the moon completely covers the sun — stretches from the Pacific Coast of Mexico to the edges of Atlantic Canada, passing through dozens of major cities where authorities are preparing for with an influx of visitors eager to experience what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
In New York, signs along the Thruway encouraged travelers to “Arrive Early, Stay Late” to avoid the inevitable traffic jams that will clog routes to and from the eclipse’s path.
Closer to Niagara Falls, which is in the path of totality, the second half of the message shifted to a more realistic, “Expect Delays.”
This will be the first total solar eclipse visible from the United States since 2017, and there won’t be another visible in the lower 48 states until 2044. On Monday, most of the country is expected to be visible. In 2017, most American adults — 154 million, according to an estimate by Jon D. Miller, a research scientist at the University of Michigan – watched the eclipse in person, an audience that exceeded even the most watched Super Bowl (123.4 million this year). And the path of totality for Monday’s eclipse crosses more than twice the number of people as the 2017 event.
Many eclipse-gazers are eagerly checking forecasts, hoping the clouds will part on Monday afternoon. The National Weather Service’s eclipse forecast showing potential cloud cover over much of the event’s path, including San Antonio, Buffalo and other major cities. In some places, rain may fall during totality.
Cities across the country canceled school, and millions of protective glasses were distributed or sold. Scientists have warned people not to look directly at the sun without protective eyewear because serious damage to the retina can occur.
Across North America, many special events are planned, from street parties in Mexico to animal studies at a zoo in Indianapolis to a special eclipse display in Niagara Falls.
In Mazatlán, the coastal Mexican city that will be one of the first places where people can see the eclipse from the ground, hotels are at capacity, cruise ships are offering special eclipse experiences and the seaside promenade is full of tourists.
Authorities say they expect about 120,000 people to visit Mazatlán for the event. Some hotel rooms are available for triple or quadruple normal rates.
“This is where the eclipse will hit land,” said Greg Schmidt, the director of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, who arrived in Mazatlán a few days ago with a team that will livestream the eclipse from city.
Mr. Schmidt chose Mazatlán about two years ago as the place for his team to follow the eclipse. He sounded sanguine about the choice compared to other places along the path of the eclipse; weather forecasts are favorable for high cirrus clouds.
“We have to see the whole through this,” he said, comparing Mazatlán to Texas, which “is now showing a lot of weather problems.”
In Dallas, more than a thousand miles away, many people have resigned themselves to not seeing the eclipse, and some have talked about venturing to see the next one in Iceland or Spain in 2026.
Eric Isaacs, the president of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC, which is hosting a three-day science festival and outing in Dallas for donors and friends of the institution, said the group’s viewing location is has been moved to a mansion where people can gather inside if they need to get out of the rain.
Closer to the end of the eclipse’s path, Canada’s Niagara region declared a state of emergency 10 days before the event, allowing officials to ramp up safety and police resources if necessary.
The emergency declaration added to the mild sense of fear that settled in Niagara Falls and several large cities within a two-hour drive of the city, including Hamilton and Toronto.
Back on the US-Canada border in New York State, Jessica DeCerce, the governor’s director of interagency operations, said officials are preparing for the eclipse as they would for a weather disaster. The total eclipse will be visible over large parts of the state. New York City is outside the path of totality, but it will experience about 90 percent of the eclipse around 3:25 pm Eastern.
Ms. DeCerce has been dubbed the state’s “eclipse czar” and has spent the last two years figuring out everything that could go wrong: traffic gridlock, lack of restrooms, shaky cellphone service.
He didn’t want to name a place he thought was the best place to view the eclipse, but he said it’s hard to beat Niagara Falls.
“Can you think of a better place to watch it than in front of one of the world’s natural wonders?” he says.
Some experts say that the rainbow that usually forms in the mist of the falls will turn pink during the eclipse.
Elliott Cohen, 33, who drove to Niagara Falls with members of his rock band from Hartford, Conn. — because “there’s nothing more spiritual than experiencing an eclipse” — he said and his group weighed whether to view the event from a friend’s backyard or the state park.
“We like to do things on a whim,” he said.
In Indianapolis, which is in the path of totality, city zoo officials plan to distribute up to 10,000 pairs of eclipse glasses to visitors and make sure the zoo’s automatic lights don’t turn on when the sky darkens.
“We really can’t have the lights on and ruin the environment,” said Emily Garrett, a zoo spokeswoman.
Alicia Bonanno, an operations coordinator who manages several parts of the zoo, including the macaw area, said she can’t wait to see how the macaws will react to the eclipse.
“The disturbance in the air pressure can cause them to fly around because they feel it’s going to be a storm,” he said, as the birds flapped in the enclosure in front of him. “But what they actually do during totality may be different. They may tuck in for the night. We’ll just see.”
Reporting was contributed by Vjosa Isai from Toronto, Juliet Macur from Indianapolis, Dennis Overbye from Dallas, Simon Romero from Mazatlán, Mexico, and Jay Root from Niagara, NY
