Total solar eclipse, Norwalk Ohio edition. I was fortunate enough to witness the 2017 eclipse in Gallatin, Tennessee and have been waiting for this eclipse in my backyard since that time. When I saw the center line of the path of totality, Norwalk seemed like the perfect place to me. Norwalk is not a big city, and it is not too far off of a couple major roads, so it should be easy to get in and out of town. I waited for an event to publish here, but it hadn't, so I decided to host myself.
We will be less than 2 miles from the center line of totality at this location, and all are welcome to join those assembled whenever. The partial eclipse will begin at approximately 1:57 PM and will barely be noticeable to the naked eye for some time. By 2:40 somewhere along the lines of half of the sun will be covered by the moon, with totality starting at approximately 3:12 PM and lasting for approximately 3 minutes and 54 seconds, with the last bit of the sun still covered by the moon at the end time of this event of 4:30 PM. To view the partial eclipse it will be necessary to have appropriate eclipse glass, or a pinhole camera, an easy to make indirect way to safely view the sun during the partial eclipse.
In the moments leading up to totality some unusual phenomenon may occur, as I have experienced several of these at my last total solar eclipse including temperature drop. I did perceive a temperature drop, but it went from kinda hot and humid to a nice cool bit of time. That was in August, not April, so some ability to layer your clothing would be a good idea. I also noticed the,,,sharpening of colors, I guess is the best way to describe it, as some colors seemed more vibrant in the dimming daylight. Odd shadows was also something I noticed, as leaves on trees had a crescent shape to them.
In the brief moments before totality, you may see shadow bands. I was lucky to observe this in 2017 as I had never heard of it, but somebody at that event had and had a white bedsheet on the ground to observe it. The undulating shadowy effect looked like snakes moving, and I will have a white bedsheet with me that day. They are not fully understood, but observed and documented back to the ninth century. Baily's Beads, if you have some form of magnification, is another phenomenon you may observe. It is the last of the sun's rays shining through deep valleys on the moon's leading edge. Then the diamond ring will appear, which is just what it sounds like, one last brief bit of sunlight shining with a dull glow of sunlight surrounding the moon. That is only visible for a moment before totality. During totality the sun is still shining, just not over us, this will create an erie 360° twilight and the ability to view stars and the planets Venus and Jupiter as they will be in the neighborhood of the sun during totality.
I will be here earlier than the posted times, to get as close to the posted coords as possible, and will update with an announcement nearby coords if necessary. There will be other non-geoevents in the area, so expect some traffic and plan your day accordingly. There are also many caches in the area as well as places to eat if you wish, and I will stay as long as other wish. Here's to hoping for a nice day.