5 Of Top 20 Places To See The Total Solar Eclipse Are In Texas

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The population of Central and East Texas is going to explode on Monday, April 8th when the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse will be darkening the skies of East Texas. Many East Texans are primed and ready for this event because a lot of us are living in the path of totality already and we're going to get a front-row view of this celestial event.

The solar eclipse will be happening because the moon will be directly between the Earth and the sun blocking the sun's rays. The event will begin around 11:07 a.m. Pacific time on Mexico's Pacific coast and then travel across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and up through the Ohio River Valley, the Northeast through New Hampshire and Maine and continue across eastern Canada.

Here in East Texas, the Total Solar Eclipse is expected to happen around 1:45 p.m. Central time and some areas could experience the totality of the eclipse for a little over 4 minutes. The longest duration in the path of totality in East Texas will be happening in Sulphur Springs. The Northeast Texas city will experience 4 minutes and 21 seconds in the path of totality.

According to Astronomy.com, Sulphur Springs comes in 8th on the list of the 20 best places to experience the eclipse in North America. Other top Texas locations on the list include:

• Radar Base (4th)
  Eclipse starts: 12:10:26 p.m. CDT
  Eclipse end: 2:51:30 p.m. CDT
  Maximum eclipse: 1:29:53 p.m. CDT

• Kerrville (5th)
  Eclipse starts: 12:14:43 p.m. CDT
  Eclipse end: 2:55:29 p.m. CDT
  Maximum eclipse: 1:34:17 p.m. CDT

• Lampasas (6th)
  Eclipse starts: 12:18:03 p.m. CDT
  Eclipse ends: 2:58:23 p.m. CDT
  Maximum eclipse: 1:37:35 p.m. CDT

• Hillsboro (7th)
  Eclipse starts: 12:21:23 p.m. CDT
  Eclipse ends: 3:01:16 p.m. CDT
  Maximum eclipse: 2:40:53 p.m. CDT

• Sulphur Springs (8th)
  Eclipse starts: 12:25:38 p.m. CDT
  Eclipse ends: 3:04:52 p.m. CDT
  Maximum eclipse: 1:45:04 p.m. CDT

Astronomy says Nazas, Durango, Mexico will experience the longest time under the path of totality - 4 minutes and 28 seconds. Jump over and check out the full list of the 20 best places to view the eclipse.

With so much interest in experiencing the phenomenon, the population of small Texas towns, like Sulphur Springs, are going to swell the weekend leading up to the event. More vehicles are going to be travelling on our two-lane highways and FMs, so a lot of patience is going to be needed during this extraordinary event.