Clouds Can't Stop Twin Cities Viewers From Enjoying Eclipse

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. (WCCO) -- The big day finally arrived. And just like that, the eclipse came and went.

While we weren't in the path of totality, the Twin Cities still saw a partial eclipse between the clouds and rain. But that didn't stop crowds from gathering to watch the historic moment.

Earlier a crowd flocked to Peavey Park to check out the eclipse. WCCO's Molly Rosenblatt ventured to Silverwood Park in Columbia Heights and joined eclipse gazers for the historic event, and it was spectacular. Well, at least before the clouds rolled in.

"Wow."

"It is cool, it's very cool."

"It's kind of cool, I guess. It's kind of wondrous."

So many different ways to describe such a historic event.

At least a thousand eclipse gazers rushed to Silverwood Park hoping the ominous clouds to the west would hold off for the entire show.

"I was pretty excited. It's the eclipse, it's not gonna happen for seven more years," Carter Miller of St. Anthony said.

"We got here early enough to get a pair of glasses and we got to see it until it was maybe a third of the way, and then the clouds rolled in. But, they still might clear. We've got about 30 minutes, you never know," Nancy Dunivin said.

At 1:06 -- peak eclipse time -- we had cloudy skies. But folks at the park didn't let the cloud cover rain on their solar eclipse parade.

"I still am not at my desk right now, I'm outside in a park on a Monday so I can't really be too mad," Abe Levin said.

"They thought it looked like someone had bit out of a cookie, like dunked an Oreo and nibbled a bit on it," Harris Alworth said.

Alworth says she's happy to see the eclipse make her 9-year-old son Joshua more excited about science.

"Is there any other place you'd rather be than right here today?" she asked her son.

"Somewhere further south where I could get a view of the full eclipse," Joshua said.

"Maybe next time we'll be able to take a full road trip," Alworth said.

If you want to plan for the next solar eclipse, plan for April of 2024. The path of totality will spread from Texas to Maine.