TOLEDO, Ohio — By now, most people know the path of totality for the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, will be directly across most of northern Ohio.
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In fact, dozens and dozens of communities in northwest Ohio will be in prime position to view totality. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the sun’s corona.
Call it a cosmic coincidence, and it may be a lifetime away, but did you know the next total solar eclipse in our region puts all of northwest Ohio and southern Michigan exactly in the center of totality again?
The exact centerline of both eclipses in 2024 and again in 2099 makes the cross over Wyandot County in between the communities of Upper Sandusky, Forest and Carey.
While this is incredibly rare, has something like this happened before?
The answer is yes!
In 2017, the city of Carbondale, Illinois was in the centerline of totality. Now just short seven years later, it is in the direct path of totality again on April 8. The time in totality will be considerably longer at 4 minutes and 9 seconds this time around in Carbondale. This is similar to the maximum time in totality here in northwest Ohio of 3 minutes and 56 seconds in Forest.
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Truth be told, all communities in northwest Ohio in the path of totality this April will once again be in the path of totality for varying amounts of time in 2099.
Those that miss out in 2024 across southern Michigan and parts of Defiance, Williams and Fulton counties, will be on the center stage along with the rest of northwest Ohio in 2099.
The next total solar eclipse anywhere in the United States won’t be until the year 2044.
Until then, the spotlight this year will be on totality in northwest Ohio with the crossroads again a few generations later set to visit on Sep. 14, 2099.
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE 2024 ON WTOL 11: