By Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian
Picture courtesy of Arnoldo Gomez
While the date of Monday, April 8th’s Total Solar Eclipse has been anticipated well in advance, the weather forecast for clouds that day was only announced several days before the spectacular event.
Heavy cloud cover blanketed the skies Monday Morning and throughout the day. Numerous visitors from other states and other countries arrived in Uvalde and the County but the anticipated bumper to bumper traffic and vehicles lining the the major roadways did not happen here.
Garner State Park’s Day passes were sold out the day of the eclipse and it was reported that breaks in the clouds afforded viewers the gosh wow views of a blackened out solar disk with the sun’s corona shining around it.
While Uvalde CISD canceled its classes that day, Knippa ISD has many grade school age children playing on its playground at approximately 1:31 when totality began,
The Hesperian viewed the eclipse along with a neighbor who was in Knippa near the school.
While the clouds did not allow for any views of the sun, an strange darkness quickly fell over the area with lights shining from inside the school as if it was evening twilight time.
“It is history in the making,” Knippa resident Hilda Chavez said while taking in the experience.
After the four minutes and a few seconds of totally elapsed, the daylight returned as quickly as it left almost as if it never happened.
While there were many who posted on Facebook that they had caught a glimpse of the phenomena, it is unclear who didn’t, but experiencing darkness during the middle of the day with a sudden temperature drop provided an experience to be remembered for many if not all.
