Timing might offer Rochester a glimpse of the eclipse Monday

Apr. 7—ROCHESTER — Minnesotans with their hearts set on seeing a full solar eclipse Monday are probably not going to be in the state.

The path of totality — in which the moon completely blocks the sun during the eclipse — will not cross over Minnesota. However, the moon would block about 70% of the sun for viewers in Southeast Minnesota.

Would.

Something else will be partially obstructing the sun for hopeful eclipse viewers in Minnesota.

"It's going to be sitting there at 60 to 70% cloud cover," said Dan Jones, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wisconsin. "We could see some breaks in between as we get into early afternoon."

For viewers in Rochester, the moon will begin to pass in front of the sun at around 12:48 p.m., according to information about the eclipse at nasa.gov. The highest magnitude eclipse will be around 2:02 p.m. and the entire event will end for Southeast Minnesota viewers at 3:15 p.m.

That's about 2 hours and 27 minutes of time to catch a glimpse, if the weather cooperates.

The low pressure system that brought cooler temperatures, rain and clouds to the area Sunday will be making its way north Monday, Jones said.

That means the clouds will begin thinning a bit in the afternoon, Jones said. That gives people a slightly better chance of catching a glimpse or two than they would have had the eclipse occurred on Sunday.

"We might get on the southern periphery of the cloud cover as the low pressure system lifts north," he said. "If the cloud cover is thin enough, you might be able to see the sun through the clouds."

That means seeing part of the eclipse here isn't entirely out of the question, but remains unlikely. Finding sunny skies would require some travel south to Southern Iowa, Jones added.

As of Sunday evening, the forecast sky cover in Rochester for Monday is about 80% to 84% at 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., dropping to about 64% at 3 p.m. and going back up to 74% by 4 p.m.

However, even if clouds are in the sky, they could be thinner, higher altitude clouds than we saw all day Sunday, which could give people a peek at the sun, Jones said.

"Basically, I would think that when we look at it, we might see some breaks," he said.

12:48 p.m., partial eclipse begins in Southeast Minnesota

The moment the edge of the moon touches the edge of the sun is called first contact.

2:02 p.m., maximum eclipse

The deepest point of the eclipse, with the sun at its most hidden.

3:15 p.m., partial eclipse ends

The edge of the moon leaves the edge of the sun.