One of the amazing side-effects of the eclipse is its ability to change the weather — but it has its limits.
Changes to temperature, wind speed and humidity occur as the moon crosses in front of the sun and casts a shadow on Earth’s surface during a solar eclipse. In the path of totality, temperatures will drop by around 10 degrees. It will also start to feel more humid and winds and cloud coverage could drop.
Unfortunately, the changes will not do enough to dent the chances for severe thunderstorms in Texas and parts of Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma, where large hail, strong winds and tornadoes are possible after the eclipse passes through.
Several ingredients combine to form thunderstorms, one of which involves the sun. Thunderstorms need warm, moist air to form. As the sun heats up the ground it causes air to warm up and rise until it starts cooling and its moisture condenses into clouds.
So, you might think that if the eclipse blocks the sun and drops temperatures it would also dent the chances for storms to form. But temperatures will recover quickly after the eclipse, the air will still be chock-full of moisture, and the other atmospheric ingredients that help form thunderstorms will play a more outsized role in their formation today, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
“Despite a solar eclipse across this region, its impact on the overall severe weather threat will likely remain minimal,” the center said.
The dangerous storms could start firing up within a couple of hours of the eclipse passing, maybe as soon as 3 to 4 p.m. local time.
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