The Solar Eclipse is Almost Here, and Arkansas is Ready to Party

On April 8, more than one million people are expected to flock to Arkansas, filling hotels and campsites, crowding restaurants and jamming roads like those seen in movies about a pending apocalypse.

People will gawk skyward as the moon passes in front of the sun, plunging the area into darkness in what astronomists call a “once in a lifetime event.” The solar eclipse begins in Mazatlan, Mexico, and heads northeast to Newfoundland in Canada, and totality will cut through the heart of Arkansas from Texarkana to Jonesboro.

In all, portions of 14 U.S. states will see the sun completely covered by the moon. The path of totality ranges a little more than 100 miles wide. Arkansans outside the path of totality will see at least 94 percent of the sun obliterated as the moon passes in front.

The moon’s shadow should cross into the state by around 12:30 p.m., and totality will start around 1:45 p.m.

It is the first total solar eclipse in the state since 1918, and city officials, chamber of commerce delegates and tourism representatives in the shadow’s path have been planning for the event for more than a year, all for about three to four minutes of near darkness.

It will not get totally dark, scientists say. Instead, when the moon covers the sun, it will appear as a night with a full moon out due to the sun’s corona. It will be short lived because the shadow’s path crosses the earth at a speed of about 1,500 miles per hour.

In Russellville, a town NASA scientists deem as one of the top five spots in the U.S. to watch the eclipse, tourism director Christie Graham has been preparing for the eclipse for 18 months. The eclipse’s totality, the time when the moon perfectly blots out the sun, will be 4 minutes and 11 seconds.

About 170,000 people will travel to Pope County, doubling the county’s population.

“We’re ready,” Graham said. “We’ve rented 200 porta potties.”

Towns such as Russellville and Hot Springs are preparing for an influx of tourists during the eclipse.

It will be a stressful time for city leaders. Those in the path of totality — a swath 100 to 123 miles wide — have prepared for traffic issues, medical emergencies, the potential for crime and other mayhem. Conversely, it is also a time to showcase their towns’ amenities, scenery and hospitality.

“We are, in a sense, hosts to our guests who come here to see this,” said Bill Solleder, director of marketing for Visit Hot Springs. “We hope to make a good impression.”

Many cities have planned multiday festivals around the eclipse, which occurs on a Monday, in an effort to keep people around for a while. Solleder said he expects about 100,000 people will arrive in Hot Springs by the Saturday before April 8.

“We’re taking this seriously,” he said.

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In Gillham, a Sevier County town of 166, officials do not know how many will show up on April 8. The town is one of the first in Arkansas to see the eclipse, and it will experience the longest time of totality in the state at 4 minutes and 18.7 seconds. The eclipse begins there at 12:29 p.m., and the totality starts at 1:46 p.m.

“It’s going to be a pretty big deal,” said Jane Whisenhunt, Gillham city treasurer. “We don’t know what to expect here.”

She said food trucks and vendors have already reserved spaces in the town’s park on U.S. 71, and hotels in nearby DeQueen and across the Oklahoma state line are already sold out.

Schools and businesses in the area will be closed to avoid adding to the predicted traffic congestion. The eclipse will end around 3:30 p.m., coinciding with the school’s general dismissal time. Many schools across the state will be closed that day.

This eclipse will be better than most, scientists say. The moon’s perigee, the point at which the moon is the closest to the earth at 222,979 miles, occurs on April 7. That will cause the moon to fit perfectly over the sun, darkening the sun’s brightness and allowing for the “ring of fire” halo corona around the moon’s edges.

“It’s a Goldilocks thing,” said Darcy Howard, a member of the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society and part of the society’s eclipse outreach education team. “It’s a perfect fit.”

Although eclipses like the one in April are somewhat rare, theoretically a solar eclipse occurs once every month. When a new moon orbits around the earth on its elliptical path, it does pass in front of the sun. Most times, though, the shadow it creates does not hit the earth and instead extends into space.

Because of the moon’s elliptical orbit, at two points of each month, it is either at its farthest (apogee) or closest (perigee) to the earth. On April 8, the new moon will be at its largest appearance, hence the more than average width of the path of totality. The magnitude of a solar eclipse is a fraction of the diameter of the sun covered by the moon. This eclipse’s magnitude is 1.0566.

“It’s the true meaning of awe,” Howard said. “We spend a lifetime with certain patterns, and when things change, it’s amazing.

“In ancient times, it was terrifying,” she said. “People now know what they’ll see. They’ll travel all over to see it.”

Howard observed a total solar eclipse in Hopkinsville, Ky., in 2017.

Carl Freyaldenhoven, who is also on the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society’s eclipse outreach team, hopes for better success during April’s eclipse than the one he tried to see in 2017. Back then, he and others drove to St. Joseph, Mo., to watch the eclipse. It rained, and clouds obscured the sun.

“I didn’t have a Plan B,” he said.

He has seen total solar eclipses in Mexico in 1991 and in Greenville, N.C., in 1970.

“You should have additional backup plans just in case it rains,” he said.

The National Weather Service cannot give a confident forecast for April 8. Because of the constant varying weather patterns, the Weather Service is pressed to give accurate predictions for five days in advance. April in Arkansas, of course, could bring springtime rains.

Joe Goudsward, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said after researching years of climatology records for April 8, he found there is a 60 percent chance of clear skies for that day.

“That’s the best we can offer,” Goudsward said. “We looked at decades of weather reports for April 8 and found that about 60 percent of the time, there’s been clear visibility for that day.”

He said cumulus clouds, thick, rain-producing clouds, are often prevalent in spring and can produce afternoon showers, which would hinder eclipse viewers because the moon will begin slowly passing in front of the sun at around 12:30 p.m.

Interestingly, if there are stratus clouds — wispy, thin clouds — when the eclipse begins — they could dissipate when the temperature begins dropping as the sun is covered. As the skies darken, other phenomena will kick in. The atmosphere will cool, frogs will begin croaking like they do during evenings, birds will roost, certain flowers such as tulips, will close and nocturnal animals will rouse.

State records indicate there have been two total solar eclipses over Arkansas in the past. The first occurred on Nov. 30, 1834, when the area was known as Arkansas Territory. Then, the eclipse entered the state where Fayetteville is today and exited where Helena-West Helena is now. The maximum totality happened in what is now Prairie County at 2 minutes and 1.8 seconds.

The state’s second eclipse happened on June 8, 1918. The moon’s shadow entered Arkansas near Mena and crossed diagonally over the state, exiting at Eudora. Because the moon was four days past its perigee, the eclipse’s shadow was only 55 miles wide. Little Rock had a partial eclipse of 98 percent that day.

Unfortunately, clouds covered most of the state, obscuring the view. Still, it did get dark. A report of the event in the Arkansas Democrat noted the results:

“However, the effects of the eclipse were noticeable at the time of totality at 6:36 p.m.,” the account read. “It was too dark to read a newspaper outdoors, and it was necessary to turn on lights in the homes and street cars.”

The state also saw a partial eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017, and one last October.

The upcoming April show is considered a major event because totality can last twice as long as in 2017, depending upon the location. Also, the sun is nearing solar maximum, the most active it will be during its 11-year solar cycle. The sun’s corona will be huge, scientists say, and the “ring of fire” — the rays of sunlight that flare behind the moon during totality — will be awe-inspiring.

All of that will attract scientists, students, eclipse chasers and anyone else interested in astronomical oddities to Arkansas. Those wishing to get married during the eclipse will find their way to Russellville’s Elope at the Eclipse mass wedding. Named one of the most unique events held in conjunction with the eclipse, Graham said 150 couples have thus far signed up to tie the knot in a celestial ceremony. The festival is free, and couples need only to bring a wedding license. Decorations, flowers, cake and fruit drinks will be provided.

“We’re trying our best,” Graham said of presenting things to do in Russellville during the eclipse.

Leaders met for months in preparation, anticipating the rush of folks to the Pope County town. CNN, CBS, ABC and the Weather Channel have all indicated a desire to show live video feeds of the event from Russellville. NASA will livestream the eclipse and will present a feed of the eclipse as seen from the International Space Station on monitors in Russellville. They will also fly a C-130 Hercules aircraft over Pope County and send video of the eclipse from the air in case clouds may hinder the view. PBS is also creating a documentary on how Russellville officials got ready for the eclipse.

Russellville is in a prime spot for viewers. Interstate 40 runs east and west through the town, and Arkansas 7 provides a north and south thoroughfare to the area.

In an 18-page report, the Arkansas Department of Transportation predicted major congestion of traffic on Interstate 30 between Benton and Little Rock and U.S. 70 between Hot Springs and Benton. Arkansas 7, which stretches through Russellville to Hot Springs, is also expected to have heavy traffic.

“We want to showcase the town,” Graham said. “We want to show people that there are lots of things to do in Russellville. We want them to come back.”

In addition to planning festivals, Graham and others have also worked with emergency personnel to prepare for most eventualities.They’ve developed alternative traffic routes for emergency vehicles and have advised restaurants, hotels, businesses and other amenities to stock up well before the weekend before the eclipse to ensure owners do not run out of supplies.

Graham has met with city leaders in Hopkinsville, Ky., and Casper, Wyo., two towns that have experienced total solar eclipses in the past, to get ideas on what to expect.

“The big traffic will be coming on Saturday [April 6]. We feel like we’re prepared and safe for that,” Graham said. “Yes, it’s four minutes [of totality], but we’re really prepared for four or five days. I’d rather be over-prepared than under-prepared.”

Solleder said he experienced several “aha moments” over the past year and a half while preparing for the eclipse in Hot Springs.

First, after the 2017 partial eclipse occurred in the state, Solleder posted on the city’s Facebook page about the 2024 total eclipse. Within two hours, 70,000 people joined the page.

“That was a big whoop moment,” he said. “It was seven years in the future with no advertising, and we got that many interested. It was the first time I saw people express interest in a celestial event.”

Later, Solleder met with Casper, Wyo., officials, like Graham did, to see how the town handled the onslaught of visitors. Solleder recalled looking at a world map in a Casper building that featured push pins representing where people came from to watch the eclipse there. He said scores of pins were poked into Europe.

“It was astounding,” he said.

Then, Forbes and The Atlantic magazines listed Hot Springs as one of the better places to watch the eclipse because of the hotels, the Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, the lakes and restaurants.

“We started taking the event really seriously,” Solleder said.

The town’s police, fire and medical services were already prepared for dealing with crowds. Each spring, thousands flock to Hot Springs for horse racing, and the hotels and spas draw even more people yearly.

“We’ve got 4,000 hotel rooms in Hot Springs,” he said. “We’ll be able to accommodate them.

Already, the town’s bed and breakfasts have sold out, along with campgrounds on Lake Ouachita. Hot Springs National Park is one of only two national parks that will see the eclipse in April, Solleder said, so additional rangers will come to Hot Springs to help with crowds.

The total length of time between when the moon first crosses over the sun and when it leaves it later will be three and a half hours, he added.

“This is good for business,” he said. “Our town thrives on tourism, and now we’re getting more people to come here.”

Freyaldenhoven said he plans to watch the eclipse in Russellville with his brother.

“I owe it to him,” he said. “I took him with me to St. Joseph, Mo., in 2017 when it rained.”

Howard said she will see the eclipse across the Arkansas River in Dardanelle.

Both urged viewers to wear eclipse glasses during the lead up to totality. People can remove the glasses when the moon completely covers the sun, but then must put them back on when totality is over, they said. Staring at the sun without protective eyewear is dangerous and can cause permanent damage.

The next solar eclipse will happen on Aug. 12, 2026, when totality can be visible from Greenland, Iceland and Spain. Another one is set for March 30, 2033, in Alaska. If Arkansans miss this one, there is a second opportunity in the state two decades from now. A solar eclipse will occur in the state on Aug. 12, 2045. The path of that one will cross the state from the northwest to the southeast — an exact opposite trek of this April’s path.

That one will also cross over Russellville.

“I’ll be retired by then,” Graham said, “but with this one in April, we’re writing the handbook on how others will deal with it in 2045.”