[tzs]

> Unfortunately for residents of Oregon’s historically cloudy coast, NOAA scientists have calculated the chances of a clear day at about 44 percent.

...

> A few hours east, however, the odds increase dramatically. Because the Cascade Range creates a significant rain shadow across central and eastern Oregon, chances are high that the view will be unobstructed.

How good are the short term forecasts for Oregon? If the day before the forecast for an area west of the Cascades calls for a clear day, is that almost always right?

My plan currently is to drive to Oregon from the Seattle area the day before, and head to one of (1) the Salem/Albany area, (2) the Madras area, or (3) somewhere around where the 84 crosses the centerline of totality, with the choice being based on the weather forecasts at the time.

[repiret]

In Eastern Oregon, summer weather is either clear or thunderstorms; thunderstorms develop in the afternoon, while the eclipse is in the morning. You're exceptionally likely to get a clear day East of the Cascades.

I leave in rural Eastern Oregon. The population here is expected to swell by a factor of 5-10x during the eclipse, and this is expected to overwhelm local services. If you're headed to rural Oregon -- or probably any non-metropolitan area nation-wide -- to see the eclipse, I would recommend arriving at least two days early, plan on staying up to two days afterward, bring with you all the food and gas you'll need, and try to avoid any critical illness or injury.

Speaking specifically of Madras, its East of the Cascades, so the weather should be good. There's a rumor that they're planning to make the highways one-way between Madras, Bend and Prineville to accommodate the extra traffic. I wouldn't want to travel by car in that area during the eclipse.

[Diederich]

We reserved an RV back in October with the intent of seeing the eclipse somewhere in your neck of the woods.

We're picking it up a full 3 days ahead of time. We're going to overnight around Shasta, and arrive almost two full days before the eclipse. We will be 100% self sufficient in the RV. That's the plan at least. (:

Here are some questions: how appropriate is it for us to park in 'some random place' for a couple of days somewhere up there?

Would you recommend being more 'east' or 'west' along the line of totality?

Do you mind me peppering you with a lot of other questions? (:

Thanks friend!

[repiret]

Pepper away! I love my little corner of the country and love talking about it :)

There is lots and lots of publicly owned land in Eastern Oregon. "Dispersed" camping means camping somewhere that isn't a developed campground. You can do that just about anywhere on National Forrest land (without a permit), and on lots of BLM land. Check with the forrest or BLM district in the area you're camping for the specifics. That said, lots of people are planning to do dispersed camping for the eclipse, so you might have to search around a bit for a good spot thats accessible to a class C or A motorhome.

You should stay off private ranch land. The forrest service and BLM can give you maps so you know what land is public and what is private.

If you're thinking shopping-center parking lots, the shopping centers in Grant, Harney and Lake (the area I'm familiar with) are small. Its not uncommon to see one or two RVs camping in some of the larger ones, but I suspect the eclipse crowd will be large enough that store managers will need to limit the number of RVs in their lots.

In addition, lots of people are renting out their land for RV and tent campers, so you may be able to find some of that available if you're willing to pay.

Finally, I should emphasize the degree to which the eclipse crowed will overrun local services. In Harney county, whose Northen border is near the Southern line of the path of totality, there are fewer than 10,000 people who live in more than 10,000 square miles. Estimates are that as many as 50,000 people will be in Harney county for the eclipse. In the path of totality, the ratio of visitors will be even larger. You should not rely on being able to buy gas or groceries, or dump your RV tanks in a timely fashion.

[manyxcxi]

Just a warning (in case you haven't been made readily aware a thousand times already)... The local agencies (I live in SW Portland area) are basically telling the residents to treat this like a huge natural disaster.

If you were coming from Shasta to the Madras area (or just central OR in general) you'd likely be going I-5 to 97 (or further north 20/22) and they can get jammed up pretty good just on a Labor Day weekend.

Do yourself a solid and make sure you get that RV stocked and fueled to the brim before you hit the road. Expect it to be worse than the fearmongers on TV say, then be pleasantly surprised when you don't have much to worry about is the angle I'd take.

[timmaah]

> how appropriate is it for us to park in 'some random place' for a couple of days somewhere up there?

Public lands have certain areas you can disperse camp. Other than that it is usually not ok to just random camp.

These won't be ordinary times though. I'd _expect_ people will be looking the other way or be too busy to worry about running off RV's in parking lots.

We are planning on find a spot in Idaho a week and a half before hand. Hoping the weather holds out. It won't be easy to travel day of from where we picked.

[Diederich]

> Public lands have certain areas you can disperse camp. Other than that it is usually not ok to just random camp.

Definitely understood!

There is, apparently, quite a lot of public land in eastern Oregon. I was thinking about the Unity area, give or take.

[repiret]

I'm not super familiar with Unity, but based on the satellite photos, I think Forrest Road 6015 will be traversable with a Class C; you should be able to find a fine place to came out there. You should call up the Prairie City Ranger District too, they'll know more local specifics than anything you can find online.

[njarboe]

It is legal to camp on any Forest Service or BLM land. Sometimes this is restricted in very popular areas and should be signed (as one might expect, a lot of California public lands are so designated). I have not camped much in western Oregon, but eastern Oregon is mostly public lands where you can camp (unless they make special rules for the eclipse). Have fun.

[my_first_acct]

In 2016, Madras went so far as to hire an event planner to organize the logistics [1]. The town has a web site with pointers to camp sites, RV parking, and day parking. (Sure, you can probably just pull off onto the side of the road, stop your car, and watch the eclipse for free, but if you want/need to be near, say, a porta-potty, this info might be useful).

[1] http://www.opb.org/news/article/solar-eclipse-madras-oregon-...

[2] http://madraseclipse.com/

[tzs]

> Sure, you can probably just pull off onto the side of the road, stop your car, and watch the eclipse for free, [...]

They say not to do that. From the FAQ at the Madras eclipse site:

> Can we park on the side of the highways & roadways?

> No. The Eclipse is occurring at the height of fire season in an agriculturally dominant landscape. Over-heated vehicles are of major concern. Pulling your vehicle off on to an area that is not designated for parking is not only dangerous for yourself and other drivers, but can also produce a fire.

[vvanders]

I can confirm that EMS/LE services will be very busy. I know some people in the local ham group there who are helping and it sounds like it's going to be pretty crazy.

[repiret]

One of the two air ambulance services that serves my area has already announced that they will cease service surrounding the eclipse in order to have more capacity near their home base.

[Bulkington]

I am truly bewildered. Was in Madras a couple of months ago, and all the talk of eclipse was, I thought then, preposterous. Now Portland businesses are making contingency plans for employees. Have friends in Charleston, SC, with 1.5 minutes of full coverage, and it's just an excuse to drink a little more, a little earlier.

Is this a social media/regional/generational thing? Do people really think they need to be on the 100% line for some reason? Do people think they won't live to see the next one in 2024?

Yes, it's an unusual event, and creepy if you're a caveman. Otherwise, this strikes me as Chamber of Commerce hype cashing in on Facebook vanity. Seriously, I don't get it.

1: "Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_So_Vain

2: Rooftop party: https://youtu.be/kkKJ3NJl8sM

[tspike]

Totality is a completely different experience from a 99% eclipse. We are uniquely situated within the solar system in that the relative distances and sizes of the moon and sun mean they're nearly identical in size to us.

With a 99% coverage event, it is still daytime. You still need glasses to look at the sun. Animals continue behaving as normal.

With a total eclipse, day turns to night. Animals alter their behavior patterns. As the totality event begins, the corona casts flickering shadows over the ground. You can look at the sun directly with your naked eye, and observe nuclear fusion directly. On average, any given location on Earth sees a total eclipse once every 375 years, which, while astonishingly common relative to other locations in the solar system, is still extremely rare for a human lifespan.

It is equally bewildering to me that someone would not care about the opportunity to witness such an event.

[zeotroph]

> clear day

That is not enough though. Since the temperature drops during any eclipse the air can suddenly hold a lot less water and you have fog ruining your view. So a place with lower humidity is the second thing to consider after the cloud cover itself.

[repiret]

Will less than three minutes of darkness actually cool the air very much?

[zeotroph]

"3/4 or 1/2 the maximum day-night temperature difference" says eclipse2017.nasa.gov[0], space.com has more details on that[1]. If this drop means the air cools below its current dew point you get fog. Seen and felt it twice with partial eclipses (both of which just happened to be where I was, so no loss).

[0] https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/typically-how-big-temperature-d... [1] https://www.space.com/37201-solar-eclipse-temperature-drop.h...

[dboreham]

Beware that a million other people may have the same idea.

[LeifCarrotson]

For better or for worse, I suspect that while a significant percentage of HN readership may be planning to travel to see the eclipse, a far smaller percentage (certainly not 1/3 of Seattle) of the general population is going.

[tspike]

Oregon Dept of Transportation (ODOT) is expecting the single largest traffic event in Oregon history. Over one million people are expected to travel to the path of totality within the state.