Cleveland and much of Ohio will be in the path of totality for a solar eclipse for the first time since 1806. The moon is expected to block the sun for about three minutes, and the temperature will drop. We’ve gathered the information you need to view the historic event safely.
We will give you updates on logistics, where the crowds are and any other need-to-know information throughout the day.
You can find all of our previous stories on the solar eclipse here.
About those eclipse glasses
Northeast Ohio experienced great views of the total solar eclipse. Now what do we do with our glasses?
According to the Planetary Society’s website, “Solar eclipse glasses use lenses that are made of black polymer, a flexible resin infused with carbon particles.”
Problem is, those materials are not accepted by household recycling centers.
The Ohio Emergency Management Agency suggests checking out the Astronomers Without Boarders website to find a recycling location that accepts eclipse glasses.
Since household recycling centers cannot accept eclipse glasses, consider recycling them at a designated location near you. For more information, go to: https://t.co/jnYYV88yt3
— Ohio Emergency Management Agency (@Ohio_EMA) April 8, 2024
Totality lived up to the hype
Moon over Cleveland
Updated 4:15 p.m. | Jeff Haynes
Totality comes to Loew Park in Old Brooklyn.
Watch people at public square view the total solar eclipse
Updated 3:45 p.m. | Nick Castele
Watch as residents and visitors cheer near Cleveland’s Public Square as the 2024 Eclipse approaches totality.
EDWINS TOO hosts solar eclipse lunch
Updated 3:30 p.m. | Olivera Perkins
It looked much like a typical full patio at EDWINS Too restaurant on Shaker Square on a warm, sunny weekday about 2 p.m. – except for one give away.
In between ordering during the Solar Eclipse Lunch, many of the guests were giving their ellipse glasses a dry run. They wanted to be ready for the big event in one hour. They wanted to be ready. One woman tried them on over her eyeglasses and then without them.
Many of the diners were regulars, including John Lawson of Shaker Heights. He likes coming here because of the food and atmosphere and also because he “supports the philosophical goals of EDWINS,” which focuses on training the formerly incarcerated for work in the hospitality and restaurant industry.
A typical Monday may not find Lawson at EDWINS. Weekends are more common. But he couldn’t have thought of a better place than the patio to view the eclipse.
“And we get free glass,” he said trying on his eclipse glasses.
Brandon E. Chrostowski, the founder, president and CEO of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, knew he would be in France during the eclipse. Still, he thought it important to have a Solar Eclipse Lunch. It appeared to be the only eclipse activity on the Square, which was also indistinguishable from any weekday at this time.
“We wanted to do something for the neighborhood to celebrate this once in a lifetime experience,” he said. “Our neighborhood shouldn’t have to go somewhere else to see the eclipse.”
What a difference a few minutes makes
Updated 3:34 p.m.| Signal Cleveland Staff
Hope you got a good look at the eclipse from your viewing spot.
Here’s a look down Euclid Avenue, just outside the Signal Cleveland office
at 3:17 p.m. and again at 3:19 p.m.
An eclipse party at Harvard Community Services Center
Updated 3:06 p.m.| Candice Wilder
Crystal Williams and her daughter Raylin fidget with their paper solar eclipse glasses. Bending them into shape, they’re hoping to witness and record each phase of the eclipse on their digital camera.
The two set up their foldable lawn chairs on a grassy yard behind Harvard Community Services Center, which is hosting a Solar Eclipse Watch Party for residents in the neighborhood. “I grew up in the neighborhood and I came to support the people and the event here,” Williams says. “Besides, it’s an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime event, might as well take advantage of to see it.”
Then, over the loud speaker, they hear:
“It’s that time, ladies and gentlemen, 2:22. The first view of the partial eclipse. Put those glasses on and you can see the first of this once-in-a-lifetime event.”
Williams and her daughter bend the glasses into shape once more and place them on their face.
“Amazing,” Williams says, and she and her daughter smile.
At 3:11, Delores Gray and her two sons, Braylon and Dorian Cannon, sit on the edge of a wooden picnic bench and gaze at the blue sky with anticipation.
In just a few minutes, the sun will be completely covered by the moon, causing a total solar eclipse. The sun, which was just shining and bright, has slowly disappeared behind clouds.
The temperature has suddenly dropped and the neighborhood street lights have turned on.
“It’s happening, it’s happening,” Dorian, who is 10 years old, shouts with excitement, holding his glasses to his face.
“I see, it’s moving into totality,” Gray responds. “The next one won’t happen here for another 400 years, boys, so take it all in, boys.”
The week before today’s event, Gray and her sons had watched dozens of YouTube videos and science programs on television that explained the impact of the eclipse.
At 3:16, when claps and cheers from residents at the eclipse party witness totality, Gray and her sons are almost speechless.
“Look at God,” Grays says. “Isn’t He something.”
Citizen scientists in Ohio City to capture sun’s corona
Updated 2:59 p.m.| Kenyatta Crisp
Volunteers set up at Kentucky Gardens in Ohio City as part of an effort called Citizen Continental-America Telescope Eclipse 2024. The trained teams of citizen scientists are capturing short clips of the sun’s corona – or atmosphere – during the solar eclipse. The clips will be edited into a movie that will allow scientists to study the magnetic structure of the middle corona and measure the strength of solar wind.
Residents gathered at the community garden to watch the effort and experience the eclipse.
Alexi De Mondoza gazed skyward to view the eclipse through glasses and called it “one of the greatest three minutes of life right now.”
Baseball fans gather for a different round object as first pitch approaches
Updated 2:54 p.m.| Mark Naymik
The crowds outside Progressive Field were all about Opening Day on Monday. Guardians fans lined up early afternoon for the 5:10 p.m. first pitch. Cleveland plays Chicago White Sox in its first home game of the year.
Credit: Mark Naymik
Credit: Mark Naymik
Eclipse parking update
Updated 2:40 p.m.| WKYC Studios
Cleveland Metroparks provided a parking update to our partners at WKYC.
The parking lots at East 55th, East 72nd, Gordon Park north and Gordon Park south are all closed.
Parking lot is closed at Edgewater as the partial eclipse begins. Just over an hour out from totalality. @clevemetroparks has a large presence here. @wkyc pic.twitter.com/leMj0VpDoM
— Matt Rascon (@MattRasconNews) April 8, 2024
Clouds dissipating with area expected to see full total eclipse
Updated 2:30 p.m.| Signal Cleveland staff
From National Weather Service out of Cleveland, “The partial eclipse has begun so let’s do a satellite check! The low clouds are dissipating moving off to the east, so everybody in our forecast area should have a great chance to see the full total eclipse. Some thin, high cirrus are expanding but won’t block the view.”
Who needs a Browns game to tailgate?
Updated 2:20 p.m.| Nick Castele
To celebrate anything properly in Cleveland, you need three things: a beer, a bus and the asphalt of the Lakefront Municipal Parking Lot.
There may not have been a sea of orange and brown at the Muni Lot, but a small crew of tailgaters staked out their slice of the parking lot to ring in the eclipse as if it were a Browns home game.
And a total eclipse over Cleveland is a “damn good” reason to tailgate, according to Scott Nunnari, 63, the owner of Dumdog Bus, a school bus turned mobile sports bar.
“It’s the thing that Cleveland does better than anybody in the country, in my opinion,” he said.
Nunnari – known to tailgaters as the Mayor of the Muni Lot – said he set up at 4 a.m., the same as he would on Game Day.
Tailgaters were quick to offer a beer and an Otto Shot, named for legendary Browns quarterback Otto Graham. (Your correspondent declined the beer.)
Kevin Hennessey, who represents the Muni-Lot Degenerates the next space over, traveled in from Ontario. He describes himself as “not your average football fan,” holding season tickets for the Browns and five other teams.
The eclipse ranked third on his list of reasons for showing up in Cleveland on Monday. Second was the Guardians home opener. And first? “Hanging out with my buddies was first,” Hennessey said.
The afternoon sun, not yet eclipsed, warmed the parking lot outside the bus, where 46-year-old Willie Lawson passed the time with a game of cornhole.
“You don’t find a better eclipse party than this,” he said.
Lawson, who goes by Big Dawg Willie, is a regular on the Muni Lot tailgate scene. So what did he think of the possibility of the Browns picking up from the lakefront and moving to Brook Park?
Lawson was evenhanded about it. By the late 2020s, when a new stadium might be finished, “we might need a change of address,” he said.
Then again, Lawson said others have been asking: “What about the Muni Lot?”
“Without this, what are the Browns games?” he said.
Clevelanders gather as Eclipse 2024 nears: Gallery
Crowds gathered near the Great Lakes Science Center in downtown and across the city in the hours before the eclipse. Signal Cleveland staff is capturing the vibe from Old Brooklyn to University Circle and beyond.
Crowds fill up the grass outside the Great Lakes Science Center to watch the eclipse. Credit: Gennifer Harding-Gosnell / Signal Cleveland 
Students fill up the campus at Case Western Reserve University for Eclipse 2024. Credit: Amy Morona 
Isaiah Gareren kneels down to help Derrick Allison tie his roller skates at the Eclipse Black Out Skate Party at Zelma Watson George Recreation Center. Credit: Asha Blake 
Eclipse t-shirts are $25 in Old Brooklyn. Credit: Jeff Haynes / Signal Cleveland 
Erick Drost found his spot to photograph the 2024 Solar Eclipse at Public Square early — around 10 a.m. Credit: Nick Castele / Signal Cleveland 
Samantha lusnek, 25, is a resident of old Brooklyn and a manager at Honey Hut. Credit: Jeff Haynes / Signal Cleveland 
A couple sits at the InterCity Yacht Club. Credit: Najee Hall / Signal Cleveland
Edgewater Park parking lots have closed
Updated 1:52 p.m.| WKYC
Our partners at WKYC are reporting that the Metroparks have announced that the parking lots at Edgewater Park have closed.
Can you spare a minute for democracy?
Updated 1:38 p.m.| Signal Cleveland staff
Rosemary Palmer of Old Brooklyn, seen here in Lowe Park, is one of many volunteers out today collecting signatures for an amendment to ban gerrymandering in Ohio. You may also see folks with petitions for another amendment, to raise the minimum wage. You can read more about both efforts here.
Rockin’ through downtown Cleveland
Updated 12:48 p.m.| Gennifer Harding-Gosnell
Michele Polinitz, from Lancaster, Pa., made a stop at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of a tour visiting Cleveland. It’s something she’s always wanted to do because “society needs more fun.”
Next, the group was heading to the Lorain County Fairgrounds to watch the eclipse before heading to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton tomorrow. Destination Cleveland estimated as many as 200,000 people would visit the area for the 2024 Eclipse and other events, including the NCAA Women’s Final Four, which concluded Sunday.
With classes canceled, Case Western Reserve University is hosting eclipse events
Updated 12:48 p.m.| Amy Morona
There are no classes today at Case Western Reserve University — but that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of activity at the University Circle campus. In fact, it’s the opposite. Some students are already outside, soaking up the sun hours before the eclipse begins. And inside, a ballroom of folks — sold out, officials said, though the event is free — are waiting for a panel discussion about the eclipse to begin.
If you’re getting tired of ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart‘ …
Updated 12:37 p.m. | Frank W. Lewis
Last week we offered advice for when to start playing Pink Floyd’s album “Dark Side of the Moon” so that the last lyrics — “and everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon” — coincide with totality. Then we asked the Rock Hall to check our math and we were … close.
“Some track lengths vary based on the version of the album you’re using, so it’s not a perfect science,” explained John Goehrke, the Rock Hall’s Director of Visitor Experience. “But, in general, if you start ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ at 2:35:27, totality at the Rock Hall will start (3:13:46) at the drum fill (when the tempo picks up) of ‘Brain Damage’ and totality will end (3:17:35) at the lyric “the sun is eclipsed by the moon” on the song ‘Eclipse.’”
“Again, it’s not exact, but it’s darn close.”
Two wheels under the sun
Updated 12:28 p.m. | Helen Maynard
The Cleveland Division of Police Bike Patrol is out today. Four of their officers were seen here, riding two-by-two down Prospect Ave. Bicycle may be the best way to get around the city today. Find road closure and parking information at this link:
https://tinyurl.com/bdb7mhaw
Weather forecast from WKYC
Updated 11:43 a.m. | WKYC Studios
Aiming for Terminal Tower totality
Updated 11:18 a.m. | Nick Castele
Erik Drost found his spot at Public Square early — around 10 a.m. A market researcher by day, he is also a freelance photographer, and he has three cameras trained on the sun’s expected position at 3:13 p.m.: Terminal Tower. “Totality right over the terminal,” he says.
Watch a livestream of the total solar eclipse
Updated 10:43 a.m. | By Signal Cleveland staff
If you want to skip the crowds or can’t get out for the eclipse, NASA will have a livestream available starting at 1 p.m.
Where do I find a restroom in Cleveland during the total solar eclipse?
Updated 9:57 a.m. | By Mark Naymik
Many public buildings are closed today just as tens of thousands of people are expected to flood the city, from Edgewater Park to North Coast Harbor.
While the officials couldn’t produce a map of where you can relieve yourself, the city identified some general locations where it’s dispatching portable bathrooms.
You will find them at Lakefront Municipal Parking Lot, home to drunken tailgating during Browns season. And it’s close to the epicenter of eclipse action at the Great Lakes Science Center. North Coast Harbor will have portable bathrooms out as well.
The city said to look for the boxy bathrooms around lawns at Mall B and Mall C.
What’s closed around Cleveland on Monday for the solar eclipse?
Updated 9:32 a.m. | Signal Cleveland staff
Some City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County government functions will be on pause. You can see the full list here.
What’s the updated weather forecast for the solar eclipse?
Updated 9:02 a.m. | Signal Cleveland staff
According to the National Weather Service in Cleveland, “Rain and low-to-mid level clouds are moving through the region this morning. Rain will be gone by Noon with some lower clouds still lingering in far NE OH and NW PA. High cirrus clouds will move in by mid-afternoon. Temperatures across the region will be in the 60s to lower 70s.”
Can I smoke marijuana in Ohio during the eclipse?
Updated 8:42 a.m. | Signal Cleveland staff
Yes, at your home or on other private property where it’s allowed. Smoking is still illegal in public places such as parks. State laws prohibiting smoking or vaping in public indoor spaces apply to marijuana as well.
And of course driving while high, or smoking in a motor vehicle even as a passenger, is also illegal.
Will traffic be bad in Cleveland?
Updated 7:43 a.m. | Signal Cleveland staff
If you plan to drive in the City of Cleveland, pay attention to road closures and parking restrictions.
Traffic “officers will be out across the city at lights and ramps helping people get where they are going safely,” the city said on its website.
Click here to find a list of all the parking bans and closures in Cleveland.
The Ohio Department of Transportation created a map to help drivers navigate roads on April 8, when a lot of visitors are expected to converge on Northeast Ohio for eclipse viewing. See the map and various scenarios based on the number of visitors.
You can see traffic cameras from around the city here.
Solar eclipse events around Cleveland
Updated 6:45 a.m. | Signal Cleveland staff
Total solar eclipse events are planned all over the city. And several organizations plan to host watch parties.
The Great Lakes Science Center and its partners, NASA’s Glenn Research Center and the Cleveland Orchestra, will host a free celestial celebration at North Coast Harbor in downtown Cleveland.
You can find more events here.
What time will the solar eclipse be on April 8, 2024?
On Monday, April 8, starting at 3:15 p.m. and lasting for a total of about three minutes and 49 seconds, the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, blocking the face of the sun and causing the sky to darken. Here is a breakdown of eclipse stages:
Eclipse starts: 1:59 p.m. EDT
Totality begins: 3:13 p.m. EDT
Maximum totality: 3:15 p.m. EDT
Totality ends: 3:17 p.m. EDT
Eclipse ends: 4:28 p.m. EDT
What’s the weather forecast for this afternoon?
According to the National Weather Service out of Cleveland, the area has the chance for high clouds that will filter the view but not block it.
Ways to view the solar eclipse safely
The solar eclipse may be a thrilling event, but people cannot look directly at the sun during the partial eclipse phase without proper eye protection.
“You should never directly look at the sun, whether it’s an eclipse or just full sun on a sunny day,” said Summa Health Ophthalmologist Dr. Nancy Awender. “The reason being is that it can cause permanent damage to the photoreceptors of the eye, and that can result in permanent central vision defects called scotomas, which are blind spots in or near one’s central vision.”
Eclipse viewers who develop spots in their vision or other changes should see an ophthalmologist, Awender said.
Most sunglasses and welding masks are not dark enough to protect your eyes.
NASA’s website includes instructions on the safest ways to view a total eclipse, including how to use certified safe solar eclipse glasses.
NASA recommends checking for a label that says the glasses comply with the ISO 12312-2 standard. Filters that are up to this standard reduce sunlight to safe levels for eclipse viewing.
When is the next total solar eclipse?
The next total solar eclipse that will be visible in Ohio won’t be until 2099.