2024 Solar Eclipse: When To Look Up In Illinois

ILLINOIS — Don't miss your chance to check out the "Great North American Eclipse" because it will be another 20 years before North America experiences a total eclipse, according to scientists. Much like the last eclipse in 2017, this year's celestial spectacle has people excited with eclipse parties planned at schools, museums, libraries and at people's homes across the United States.

While most of Illinois is not in the eclipse's path of totality, or the area where the moon will fully block the sun, the southern part of the states is. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is calling Southern Illinois the "eclipse crossroads of America" because it was also the centerline for the path of totality in 2017 and will be again this time. Carbondale is the largest Illinois city in the path.

As of Monday morning, afternoon skies over the Chicago area should be mostly clear and sunny, with gusty winds and highs in the upper 60s or low 70s, according to the National Weather Service.

"Current satellite loop shows clear skies locally. Low clouds over IA should stay north/west of us today ... Overall, skies look very favorable for eclipse viewing," the National Weather Service Chicago tweeted.

In all, 32 million Americans live in the path of totality, which extends from Texas to Maine. The solar eclipse will be a sight to see throughout Illinois, with special glasses of course. Much of the state will see the moon cover more than 90 percent of the sun at the peak of the eclipse, including 93.9 percent in Chicago.

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Here's when the solar eclipse will happen in Chicago and a few other Illinois cities, according to a map from NASA.

CHICAGO (93.9 percent totality)

• Eclipse begins: 12:51 p.m.
• Maximum eclipse: 2:07 p.m.
• Eclipse ends: 3:21 p.m.
• Weather forecast: 68 degrees, zero percent chance of precipitation, 25 percent chance of cloudy skies

SPRINGFIELD (96.9 percent totality)

• Eclipse begins: 12:45 p.m.
• Maximum eclipse: 2:02 p.m.
• Eclipse ends: 3:18 p.m.
• Weather forecast: 75 degrees, zero percent chance of precipitation, 14 percent chance of cloudy skies

CARBONDALE (100 percent totality)

• Eclipse begins: 12:43 p.m.
• Maximum eclipse: 1:59 p.m. - lasts four minutes, 10 seconds
• Eclipse ends: 3:18 p.m.
• Weather forecast: 78 degrees, zero percent chance of precipitation, 57 percent chance of cloudy skies

ROCKFORD (90.1 percent totality)

• Eclipse begins: 12:50 p.m.
• Maximum eclipse: 2:05 p.m.
• Eclipse ends: 3:20 p.m.
• Weather forecast: 65 degrees, zero percent chance of precipitation, 25 percent chance of cloudy skies

The total solar eclipse starts in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as small parts of Tennessee and Michigan, before entering Canada in southern Ontario through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton before exiting continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

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Can't make it outside? You can watch the eclipse online, thanks to NASA: