Indiana in the Spotlight: Preparing for Total Solar Eclipse 2024

The 2024 Solar Eclipse Task Force held an informational presentation this week about how the region is preparing for the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024. We learned that there is a lot of planning that goes into welcoming up to 80,000 visitors to our region.

PHOTO: explore evansville

Public Safety Update:

As we learned earlier this month, both the EVSC and Warrick County school systems adjusted the calendar to give students and faculty April 8, 2024, off. North Gibson schools already have the date listed as a holiday. This isn't just a get-out-of-school-free card. It was a decision based on safety. Just think about traffic on the Lloyd around 5 PM, or Oak Hill around 3 PM. Now imagine that plus thousands of people that have come specifically to our area to witness the solar eclipse. That would cause chaos.

Sergeant Erik Nilssen with the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department informed us that there would be more police officers on hand that day. In fact, none of the officers will be allowed to take that day off. They do expect traffic to be one of the major concerns for local departments.

Weather Predictions:

Meteorologist Arden Gregory addressed a very important topic for the historic day; Weather! Now, she did some research, and going back thirty years, the chance for cloudy skies versus sunny and clear skies is literally 50/50. It actually snowed on April 8, 1982, and of course, we could even see severe weather. So, if your business is hosting an outdoor watch party, you will want to consider a safe place to shelter.

Information from NASA

PHOTO: nasa

Here are the specific lengths for totality between 2:01 PM-2:03 PM CST

PRINCETON 3:54
NEW HARMONY 3:54
MT VERNON 3:30
DARMSTADT 3:26
EVANSVILLE 3:03
MORGANFIELD 2:42
NEWBURGH 2:30
HENDERSON 2:30

Financial Impact:

Thousands of visitors will equal opportunities for local businesses to showcase their menus and products. So, throw on that creative cap and start thinking about eclipse-themed events and specials. Most of the state and local parks are already booked, and our local hotels are filling up too. There is a good chance that most of the visitors will stay more than one day. Explore Evansville hopes to showcase our city so that many of the visitors will want to call Evansville home.