by Greg Murphy, KSBY weather blogger

Total eclipses are amongst the most common astrological phenomena that we have. We have a technical term for it, “night,” when the Earth blocks the Sun. You could say the same whenever you walk in the shadow of a tree, enter a building, or block the Sun with your hand. A total eclipse caused by the Moon is a less frequent, very different experience as the Sun is blocked just enough that its corona becomes visible.

The most recent total eclipse (lunar-caused) for the Central Coast was Monday, Sept. 10, 1923. The path of totality shadowed California in the southwestern half of Santa Barbara County, the channel, and San Diego.

The green GE pointer was where the timespan of the total eclipse was at its longest. The blue line was the northern edge of the path of totality. (from NASA)

The point of maximum totality was in the Pacific Ocean, 70 miles west of Lompoc. Crowds of people from San Luis Obispo County and Santa Maria headed to the city. It happened to be Admission Day for the state which allowed many to close shops and go.

Among the throng was Santa Barbara resident and renowned artist Howard Russell Butler who painted this work near Lompoc.

He sketched it during the eclipse and applied paint afterwards. The "star" is the planet Venus.

This black-and-white photograph of the eclipse was taken in Sonora, Mexico by University of Arizona's Professor A.E. Douglas.

The eclipse was a welcome change for the Lompoc area. It was still affected from the Honda Point Disaster that had happened two days prior. Seven destroyers of the U.S. Navy ran aground ending 23 lives much too soon.

The system that put clouds in the Butler painting were thicker on the South Coast which led to most people missing the corona. Excitement grew in Santa Barbara as the shadow of totality could be seen approaching on the mountains. Fog rolled in seconds before totality which caused much disappointment.

Wire reports surmised that Lompoc was the only piece of American soil where good viewing was to be had. Electric lights came on in some areas and drivers all over the Central and South Coast found it prudent to turn on their headlights. Chickens thought that night was approaching and headed for their coops, even well outside the area of totality.

The Santa Barbara coast had our area’s three most recent total eclipses. The first and second were very close together, 1677 and 1679. Chumash rock art was found near San Marcos Pass that is suspected to be the earliest-surviving recorded Central Coast eyewitness account of an eclipse. It tested to be from the right era for 1677 or 1679. Objects in the sky during the 1679 eclipse don’t fit the positions of the painted objects, but 1677 was close enough to remain a possibility.

The dark circle is believed to be the eclipse. The red circles roughly correspond to where Mars and the star Antares were. They both appear reddish in the night sky.

This eclipse series of posts concludes on Monday with a pair of astronomical events that will take place in a couple of weeks. One of them is a companion event to solar eclipses.

Sunday’s annular eclipse — Part 1
Sunday’s annular eclipse — where to view
Sunday’s annular eclipse — how to view (includes local viewing info)
Sunday’s annular eclipse — perspective

By Dan Shadwell

We’re starting out with some low clouds and fog again today, particularly along the coastal and beach areas. It’ll all burn off by mid-day, though.

The big story again today is the wind advisory–just like yesterday, we’ll see winds gusting through the inland valleys and we could get wind speeds hitting the 50 mile-per-hour range in the mountains, so keep a good grip on the steering wheel. That advisory will take effect this afternoon and continue until at least 3am Saturday, with sustained winds in the 15-30 MPH range. The South Coast will see the worst of it, but you’ll see hair-dos undergoing re-arrangement all over the Central Coast.

Our temperatures will remain on the mild side today as a high level trough completes its trip, before giving way to building high pressure. Beaches will top out in the 60s, inland a bit we’ll see mid-70s and a bit farther inland, we’ll reach into the low to mid-80s.

But by Sunday, the mercury will reach the 90-degree range again in the inland areas… just in time for the Paso Robles Wine Fest on Sunday!

Here’s a look at today’s high temps:
Paso Robles–83
Atascadero–78
Morro Bay–65
San Luis Obispo–71
Pismo Beach–63
Arroyo Grande–65
Nipomo–69
Santa Maria–68
Los Alamos–73
Solvang–74
Vandenberg–66
Goleta–69
Santa Barbara–70

Have a great weekend!

by Dave Hovde, KSBY Meteorologist

Friday: NW winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 35 kt. Combined seas 8 to 11 ft dominant period 8 seconds. Patchy fog in the morning.

Friday Night: NW winds 20 to 30 kt with gusts to 35 kt becoming 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 30 kt after midnight. Combined seas 8 to 11 ft dominant period 9 seconds. Patchy fog after midnight.

Saturday: NW winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 30 kt. Combined seas 7 to 10 ft. Patchy fog in the morning.

Sat Night: NW winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 30 kt. Combined seas 6 to 8 ft. Patchy fog after midnight.

Sunday: NW winds 20 to 25 kt with gusts to 30 kt NW portion in the morning. Otherwise NW winds 5 to 10 kt becoming NW 15 to 20 kt with gusts to 25 kt in the afternoon. Combined seas 5 to 7 ft. Patchy fog in the Morning.

Sunday Night: NW winds 15 to 25 kt. Combined seas 7 to 9 ft. Patchy fog after midnight.

Monday: NW winds 20 to 30 kt. Combined seas 7 to 9 ft.

Tuesday: NW winds 20 to 30 kt. Combined seas 7 to 9 ft.

by Dave Hovde, KSBY Meteorologist

Friday temps will still have to battle a strong afternoon wind of 15-30mph. Those onshore winds will hold beach temps in the lower to mid 60s, coastal valleys will reach the upper 60s and low 80s while interior valley highs will continue their slide into the lower 80s for highs.

As the weekend arrives temps will perk back up to the upper 80s inland and back into the lower 70s for coastal valleys, beaches will see 60s.

Some night and morning low clouds near the coast however the stronger winds will mix those clouds out each afternoon.

A more significant warm-up is expected in the middle of next week.

by Dave Hovde, KSBY Meteorologist

Arroyo Grande 50-73
Atascadero 46-86
CA Valley 54-88
Cambria 48-62
Corbett Canyon 48-73
Creston 45-86
Cuyama 56-87
Goleta 54-69
Grover Beach 65-65
Hearst Castle 51-76
Lompoc 50-64
Los Osos 49-61
Morro Bay 49-55
Paso Robles 47-86
Pismo Beach 50-60
Pozo 48-91
San Luis Obispo 50-69
San Miguel 48-80
Santa Barbara 58-73
Santa Margarita 46-84
Santa Maria 49-65
Santa Ynez 50-73
Shandon 45-86
Shell Beach 50-60
Solvang 50-86
Templeton 62-85

By Dan Shadwell

It’s going to be mostly sunny around the Central Coast, once the morning fog lifts. We have an upper level trough moving through that will keep us a bit cooler today.

We can also expect a return of the windy conditions from the west and northwest this afternoon. In fact, a high wind advisory is scheduled to take effect at 3 this afternoon that will continue until tomorrow morning at 9. We’ll see sustained winds between 20 and 30 miles-per-hour, with gusts to 45 and even 50 miles-per-hour on the South Coast and inland mountains.

Late tomorrow, high pressure will begin to build again for the weekend, with temperatures climbing into the 90s inland and back into the 70s at the coast.

For today, we’ll be topping out in the low to mid-60s at the beaches–mid to upper 80s inland.

Here’s a look at today’s high temperatures:
Paso Robles–87
Atascadero–77
Morro Bay–59
San Luis Obispo–70
Pismo Beach–63
Nipomo–64
Santa Maria–66
Los Alamos–71
Solvang–75
Vandenberg–63
Goleta–71
Santa Barbara–74

by Greg Murphy, KSBY weather blogger

Solar eclipses are more common than supermoons like the one we just had. There are frequently two in a year. Four are not uncommon. What makes solar eclipses a bigger event than supermoons is that a smaller portion of the planet gets to see them.

Here are some numbers that I got from NASA for 4,500 years of San Luis Obispo eclipses, from 1499 BC to 3000 AD.

The Moon on Sunday will advance 85.6% across the face of the Sun. The percentage of the Suns’s face that will be eclipsed is 79.4.

An eclipse of a magnitude larger than Sunday’s 85.6% happens every 20.8 years on average. However, the most recent bigger eclipse was in 1992 and the next will be in 2045, a 53-year span. This eclipse locally may be in the top three for some local’s lives. The effect in the sky will seem that it is a bit darker than normal for a May evening, but being evening should lessen the perception that we would get on a midday eclipse.

The Sun will be obscured by more than Sunday’s 79.4% every 18.5 years, plus or minus. For this eclipse, the last larger obscuration was in February 26, 1979 and the next will be the 22nd of August, 2044, a span of 65 years! Sunday’s eclipse is the biggest that many of us will ever see.

San Luis Obispo averages a solar eclipse every two years and seven months. The last was an unusual ten years ago, June 10, 2002. That means that Sunday’s solar eclipse will be the first experience for most kids younger than fourth grade. The next one will be October 23, 2014. A person living the average lifespan will see 30 solar eclipses which gives the kids some makeup work to do.

The 4,500 researched years has 17 annular eclipses for a 265-year average. Nineteen total eclipses are also in the mix, 237-year average. That makes 36 annular and total eclipses which averages once every 125 years. If you are waiting to see either type of eclipse, but won’t travel, you have a long wait ahead of you.

The last annular eclipse for the Central Coast was January 5, 1647, decades before Spaniards came across San Francisco Bay. The next one will be December 19, 2131. It is only a 119-year wait. Or, you can drive to Redding this weekend. The next one for California and the United States is in 11 years, October 14, 2023. It will cross the extreme northeast corner of the state, a couple more hours of a drive than this weekend’s.

We are in a bit of a sweet spot with total eclipses. There are still some people who remember the last one that the Central Coast had. It was Sept. 10, 1923. Some of today’s children will make it to the next one on May 3, 2106, 94 years away. Its centerline of totality will run through such local landmarks as Montana de Oro State Park, the right field corner of Cuesta College’s baseball field, and Santa Margarita. It will be San Luis Obispo’s eclipse of the millenium not to mention most of the last millenium.

California’s next total eclipse will be August 12, 2045. There will be one in a mere five years that will run coast-to-coast from Oregon to South Carolina. If you want to put in for vacation days to beat the rush, block out August 21, 2017.

If you haven’t gotten the idea yet, this eclipse is a big one and is worth the drive to Sacramento Valley for the annular “ring of fire” experience. A lot of us won’t be alive for the next one in the state 33 years from now.

Friday’s post in the eclipse series will cover the most recent Central Coast total eclipse, September 10, 1923.

by Dave Hovde, KSBY Meteorologist

Arroyo Grande 49-76
Atascadero 45-96
CA Valley 49-89
Cambria 46-65
Corbett Canyon 50-80
Creston 43-95
Cuyama 51-87
Goleta 51-72
Grover Beach 51-79
Hearst Castle 67-79
Lompoc 52-63
Los Osos 52-63
Morro Bay 50-55
Orcutt 48-69
Paso Robles 45-95
Pismo Beach 51-66
Pozo 43-94
San Luis Obispo 51-72
San Miguel 47-92
Santa Barbara 57-75
Santa Maria 48-69
Santa Ynez 50-81
Shandon 43-93
Solvang 51-79
Templeton 45-93

by Dave Hovde, KSBY Meteorologist

Air quality in the Oceano Dunes, Nipomo area will be impacted by the high winds blowing dust and other particles around through Friday , otherwise the air quality index remains good for most of the coast.

Thursday, May 17: 30 AQI Good Ozone
Friday, May 18: 32 AQI Good Ozone
Saturday, May 19: 34 AQI Good Ozone
Sunday, May 20: 35 AQI Good Ozone
Monday, May 21: 37 AQI Good Ozone

The Air Quality Forecast is provided by the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District.

For more information, visit http://www.slocleanair.org

by Dave Hovde, KSBY Meteorologist

Thursday: NW winds 15 to 25 kt with local gusts to 35 kt. Combined seas 7 to 9 ft dominant period 8 seconds. Patchy fog in the morning.

Thursday Night: NW winds 20 to 30 kt with gusts to 35 kt. Combined seas 9 to 12 ft dominant period 9 seconds.

Friday: NW winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 35 kt. Combined seas 9 to 12 ft…subsiding to 8 to 10 ft in the afternoon.

Friday Night: NW winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 35 kt in the evening. Combined seas 8 to 11 ft. Patchy fog after midnight.

Saturday: NW winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts to 30 kt. Combined seas 7 to 9 ft. Patchy fog in the morning.

Saturday Night: NW winds 15 to 25 kt…becoming 10 to 20 kt after midnight. Combined seas 6 to 8 ft. Patchy fog after midnight.

Sunday: NW winds 15 to 25 kt. Combined seas 6 to 8 ft.

Monday: NW winds 15 to 25 kt. Combined seas 6 to 8 ft.