Eclipse drops temperatures by several degrees across United States
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Total solar eclipse 2024

By Ashley Strickland, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury, Antoinette Radford, Eric Zerkel and Aditi Sangal, CNN

Updated 9:27 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024
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5:05 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

Eclipse drops temperatures by several degrees across United States

From CNN's Elliana Hebert and Eric Zerkel

Cities across the Lower 48, both within and outside the path of totality, experienced significant temperature drops as the moon obscured sunlight during the eclipse on Monday.

Weather stations began to report temperatures falling minutes after the eclipse started. Here’s a list of some of the most substantial drops reported so far:

  • Carbondale, Indiana: 9 degree drop (79 to 70)
  • Caribou, Maine: 9 degrees (61 degrees to 52)
  • Springfield, Missouri: 9 degrees (78 to 69)
  • Little Rock, Arkansas: 7 degrees (82 to 75)
  • Syracuse, Indiana: 5.7 degrees (72.2 to 66.5)
  • Indianapolis, Indiana: 5 degrees (73 to 68)
  • Chicago, Illinois: 4 degrees (67 to 63)
  • Louisville, Kentucky: 4 degrees (75 to 71)
  • Burlington, Vermont: 4 degrees (64 to 60)

The eclipse also caused humidity to rise as temperatures dropped closer to the dew point, or the temperature at which air becomes saturated. Temperatures will rise again as the eclipse ends and sunlight is restored. 

4:31 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

Eclipse glasses and solar viewers don't expire. Here's how to take care of them

From CNN's Ashley Strickland

A street vendor sells certified solar glasses in Pucon, southern Chile, on December 12, 2020.
A street vendor sells certified solar glasses in Pucon, southern Chile, on December 12, 2020. Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images

As long as the eclipse glasses or solar viewers you’re using comply with the ISO 12312-2 safety standard and aren’t torn, scratched or damaged in any way, they don’t “expire” and can be used indefinitely.

There is also no limit on how long you can view the sun while wearing them.

To take care of them, save your eclipse glasses and viewers for future eclipses by storing them at room temperature in an envelope or their original packaging to avoid scratches.
Never use water, glass cleaner, baby wipes or other wet wipes to clean eclipse glasses — the moisture could cause the cardboard frames to detach from the lenses. Instead, carefully wipe the lenses clean with a tissue or cloth.

Note: Some glasses and viewers carry outdated warnings about using the glasses for more than three minutes at a time or recommend throwing them away after more than three years, but these do not apply to ISO 12312-2-certified viewers, according to the American Astronomical Society.

4:10 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

Eclipse Explained: When will there be another total solar eclipse?

From CNN's Elise Hammond

A total solar eclipse is seen from the International Space Station on August 21, 2017.
A total solar eclipse is seen from the International Space Station on August 21, 2017. NASA

The next total solar eclipse will be in August 2026, NASA says. It will be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, and a small area of Portugal.

Another total solar eclipse won’t be visible across the contiguous US again until August 2044.

There will be an annular eclipse much sooner, though, visible in South America, the agency says. That will happen in October 2024. Remember, an annular eclipse is when the moon is near its furthest distance from earth, it won’t cover the entire sun. This creates what looks like a ring around the moon.

NASA says its eclipse forecasts "are accurate to less than a minute in time over a span of hundreds of years."

3:47 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

That's a wrap: The last of the total solar eclipse is over in Canada

Totality ended in Newfoundland at 3:46 p.m. ET, marking the end of the total solar eclipse over Canadian soil.

You'll still be able to see a partial solar eclipse — where the moon blocks out just part of the sun — for a while longer, though. The partial solar eclipse continues until 4:47 p.m. ET.

3:44 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

"It's the coolest thing I've ever done," says man who watched eclipse in Vermont

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

CNN spoke to enthralled people who had gathered on a mountain slope in Stowe, Vermont, after they watched the total solar eclipse.

"I knew it was going to happen, but still, when I saw it, that just completely took my ability to speak away," one man said.

"We're lucky to have an experience like that," another man said.

A third watcher said he would travel to wherever the next total solar eclipse occurs.

"I don't care where it is in the world, I will go" and see a solar eclipse again, the man said. "It's the coolest thing I've ever done."

"Being able to take your glasses off, and seeing it for the first time was shocking," he added.

6:57 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

The total eclipse has now concluded for the United States

People look through a telescope that is tracking the path of the sun during the partial solar eclipse in Washington, DC.
People look through a telescope that is tracking the path of the sun during the partial solar eclipse in Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

After moving across more than a dozen states from Texas to Maine, the total eclipse has now ended for the US.

The path of totality will continue to move over portions of Canada’s New Brunswick and Newfoundland provinces for a few more minutes.

The partial eclipse will continue over the US for just over an hour, ending in Maine at 4:41 p.m. EDT.

3:52 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

Couple gets engaged during total solar eclipse in Vermont

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

Just as people gathered in Stowe, Vermont, to experience the totality of the eclipse, a couple got engaged live on CNN.

The perfectly timed moment happened as the moon completely covered the sun, and the surrounding crowd erupted in cheers for both the couple and rare solar event.

"True love story cemented in the darkness of a total solar eclipse now written in history," CNN's Derek Van Dam noted.

Asked how they planned it and timed it so perfectly, the man who proposed said, "She had no idea it was happening and I had no idea what to do. That's how."

3:51 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

The moon blocks the sun … on X

From CNN’s Josh Campbell

There was more than one eclipse on Monday.

NASA's moon account on X, formerly known as Twitter, had its own digital eclipse on Monday when it blocked NASA's sun account.

"Oops I did it again," NASA's moon account tweeted, as a total solar eclipse made its way across America.

See the moment:

3:31 p.m. ET, April 8, 2024

Crowds scream as they witness the solar eclipse moment at Niagara Falls

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

People look up at the sun during the total solar eclipse in Niagara Falls, New York.
People look up at the sun during the total solar eclipse in Niagara Falls, New York. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

The crowds at Niagara Falls in New York state let out loud screams in excitement as the moon blocked the sun.

Despite the clouds blocking the full view, the crowds got excited and cheered as nighttime descended in the middle of the day for a brief moment.

The temperature had dropped significantly as it got dark, the CNN crew in the area reported.