Total Solar Eclipse LIVE | 13 ON YOUR SIDE Special coverage

hey everyone good afternoon it's Eclipse day I'm Elena Holland and I'm Lauren Baker thank you so much for joining us on our special coverage this afternoon we're about 30 minutes away from the eclipse and we have Team coverage on the Nationwide event our meteorologist George Sam and Blake are live from Little Rock Arkansas to right here mosan ready to explain what exactly is happening in the sky this afternoon and 13 on your side reporters Josh Al berus and Micah Cho are attending watch parties where many are anticipating the solar eclipse but first we'll start with meteorologist Samantha Jax live from Richmond Indiana Sam what are you seeing out there right now oh my gosh Lauren Elena the energy right now here in Richmond Indiana is palpable you can just tell we are ready for this total solar eclipse we have been waiting we are in the line of totality and here's the thing we have so many scientists space Enthusiast surrounding me and we want to talk to them for just a second here so joining me right now tell me your name first hi I'm Lisa amplan Lisa what are you most excited about you even have a book The Woman in mom in space yeah it's a book of poetry um I'm a big space Enthusiast and I think this is just a once in a-lifetime literal experience to see totality and the Corona and just the awe inspiring scene absolutely and your family is here with you we traveled from from where Cincinnati Cincinnati thank you so much for joining us today for this spectacular experience and of course here keeping us safe your name is Todd Barker Todd tell us a little bit about what it's been like for the University to make sure that the campus was ready for an event like this thank you Samantha it's been fantastic for us to Showcase this beautiful University welcoming our friends our students within and friends from all over the country to come here and keep everyone safe and make it a great event absolutely and we're ready right [Applause] again totality is coming up pretty quickly here and we are going to be prepared we have our glasses anytime we're checking out that sun we are making sure to put them on okay but you might be asking yourself what is a total solar eclipse let's talk about it a total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth completely blocking the face of the sun April's total eclipse will be visible from Texas to Maine and people viewing the eclipse from locations where the moon's Shadow completely covers the sun known as the path of totality will experience a total solar eclipse the sky will darken as if it's Dawn or dusk the April Eclipse will be the last total solar eclipse to be visible in the United States until 2044 seems like Sam's having a lot of fun there in Indiana and as we get closer to viewing the eclipse make sure you have your glasses ready especially eclips glasses but what happens if you take a peek with your naked eye first of all just don't do it and I spoke with an eye doctor to find out why it's a site you don't see very often but a site you don't want to see without the help of special eclipse glasses there is no safe time at which to look at it here Dr Matthew bore is an opthalmologist with the University of Michigan Health West he says staring directly at the eclipse without eye protection will damage your eyes really can be just kind of an instant it can be more tempting to look at the Sun during an eclipse but it is one of the worst times to do the damaging Peak Dr bour says that's because the Moon is blocking some of the brightness of the sun tricking your reflexes to not look away but the same amount of Power is coming through our eye kind of works like a magnifying glass onto the film of the camera on the back of the eye and that can actually burn the retina that intakes that light so what happens to make it so damaging to look at the solar phenomenon it's essentially a burn on that Rea a burn spot sometimes even basically in the shape of the clipse causing permanent blind spots in your vision if not total vision loss we cannot fix that it's brain tissue it's extension of the brain as the retina uh and that is not repairable there is however a very short window you can look at the Sun during the eclipse but you cannot do that here in West Michigan so if you're traveling down to Ohio or the path of totality when that sun is completely gone then it would be safe to take off the glasses but it they need to go right back on once the Sun starts to reappear to avoid that permanent eye damage make sure to wear eclipse glasses during the event Monday it's important to enjoy the experience but also enjoy it safely and one of the cities with the best view in the country is where we find chief meteorologist George lons George is joining us now George how's it going down there it is great here in Arkansas we're in a town called Perryville Arkansas which is about an hour West Northwest of Little Rock and we have a terrific day going on here it is a little bit Breezy not bad temperature is 85 Degrees we like that kind of weather and more importantly is we have uh clear skies uh look at that Blue Horizon we're at the Perryville athletic field and we have a lot of folks out here and they're very excited to be here all from West Michigan this is is the Grand Rapids astronomical Association and their friends with all of their telescope equipment it is just an electric atmosphere uh Sam has got a great group there in Indianapolis and we have got a fantastic group as well here in Arkansas and we are about less than 20 minutes away from totality which Peaks at 153 central time which is 253 your time but again wow we couldn't have asked for any better weather here in the perville Arkansas region so we're just waiting totality I've got my eclipse glasses ready to go and so hopefully we'll see uh a really good total eclipse here in perville Arkansas I'm going to throw it back to you guys so many great views getting excited about that total solar eclipse making its way through the country but this is only one of four types of different eclipses you could see meteorologist Blake Hansen explains April solar eclipse is just one of four types of solar eclipses let's break it down first up we'll talk about April's Eclipse called a total solar eclipse it occurs when the moon completely blocks the face of the Sun by passing between it and Earth people in the middle of the Moon Shadow will experience a total eclipse meaning the sky will darken as if it were dusk or Dawn they'll see what's called the sun's Corona or outer atmosphere which is usually blocked by the sun's bright face next up is the annular solar eclipse this was the type of eclipse Across the Western United States last October the annular eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth but this time it's at its furthest point from Earth that means it doesn't completely cover the Sun but creates a dark disc surrounded by what looks like a ring you'll need to keep your solar eclipse glasses on to enjoy this type of eclipse now depending on where you are you may experience a partial solar eclipse this happens during both a solar and annular eclipse and when you're outside the air area covered by the moon you'll see part of the sun covered giving it a crescent shape West Michigan will experience a partial solar eclipse in April and lastly a hybrid solar eclipse because of the Earth's curvature there are times an eclipse can switch between the annular and total solar eclipse as it moves across let's go back to this upcoming total solar eclipse the April Eclipse will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the United States until 2044 and we're now going by meteorologist Blake Hansen right now Blake how are the crowds preparing at the Astronomical Society there mosan hey Blake enjoyed this across West Michigan of course we're going to see about 93 to 94% of uh the totality here in West Michigan it's going to be in a very exciting time within the next 30 minutes and uh we got people that are here ready to uh enjoy it as well joining me is Jordan and Michelle guys what do it mean to uh view this uh solar eclipse today it's actually pretty cool you know um we had one in 2017 but I don't think it was anything like this so we're out here just you know watching the grass grow until the totality yeah it's very exciting I called the whole family to come here my mom both my daughters um friends are here and we're just waiting for it to happen but right now we are very excited to see what we're seeing and it's it's a good time yeah the moon already starting to eclipse the sun here in West Michigan a little Breezy out here but aren't we lucky to have this bright blue sky today we are we are certainly lucky yeah it's a very uh great VI here guys thanks so much for joining us enjoy the eclipse it's again we're going to be at our uh maximum Eclipse maximum totality here in West Michigan at about 311 so about another half hour from now uh we have a dozens of people that have come out here to the observatory we're just by the Wastewater Plant outside of mosan we again a little Breezy out here temperatures are sitting in the 60s but all in all it's a very enjoyable time uh to be out here because we have that bright blue sky and again we are about oh a half hour away from when we see the maximum totality across West Michigan and we are not going to have to worry about any clouds so we have a picture perfect blue sky and these uh solar eclipse glasses they are definitely coming in handy starting to see uh the moon eclipse the Sun and we're just really excited here we're going to be talking to the treasurer of the mosan Astronomical Society about some of the telescopes they're using on hand here today uh they also have the uh open house ongoing all the way until 3:30 uh as this Eclipse uh continues or to at least around 3:30 4 o' uh very enjoyable time you can see all these people putting their glasses on ready to go very excited yeah you're excited as well how's it feel to be out here well I'm I'm excited to finally make it so yeah oh enable and again Blue Sky can't ask for more exactly yeah it's like yesterday even it was supposed to be cloudy so hey we'll take it that's excited yeah so thanks so much for being here it's enjoyable time here again at the msan astronomical uh society's Observatory and we're going to have more on what's going on here in mosan coming up over the next hour back to you guys in the studio BL thank you that look people are having fun out there okay this is so fun my goodness yeah right here's a live look at the NASA camera right now this is in Dell Rio Texas it doesn't even look real Elena it almost doesn't but that is what's happening there in Texas right now soon going to be similar here too and after the break we'll check in with 13 your SES reporters Josh Alberta and Micah Cho to see how those in Grand Rapids and cold water are preparing how do we get 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single cloud in the sky we're going to have a full wide open view of what happens with this Eclipse there are going to be plenty of people watching all over the area in the city but also out here in some more these rural more natury areas you know we're not only going to see what happens in the sky when it comes to the Sun and this Eclipse itself but also how that may impact you know on the ground you know the nature the wildlife how they're going to kind of react we're going to get to see that firsthand so here to help me answer some of those questions firsthand with some expert experience Katie and Samantha are Educators here at the Blandford Nature Center thank you so much for for taking time to speak with us of course yeah but first of all before we get to that you know this this is a really good crowd you guys have out here what's what's your reaction to seeing this many people respond to your call to say hey come out and watch this Eclipse with us yeah it's definitely been really awesome we weren't expecting such a huge turnout but it's really great to see the community come together we ran out of glasses in like 15 minutes and groups of have been sharing and um passing it back and forth which has been really awesome to see and we've seen some people even bring disco balls which is really cool gotcha yeah this is really incredible for us especially for admission free April this is a really big event for us and we're really glad to see such a great turnout absolutely and kind of what we mentioned here already is you know we're going to we're in a prime spot to see you know take note of how nature responds to this especially you know is there anything we know of up to this point that may suggest you know how the wildlife May react to the sun fading away to a certain extent in the middle of a day yeah I mean obviously we don't have a ton of research on it since it's not um a common occurrence but you know something is owls will tend to be more active during this time as it's kind of kind of close to dusk it almost feels like that with the moon passing over yeah absolutely most of the animals are going to act like it's that dusk time of day we might see uh animals that start to wake up as the sunsets like Deer uh nocturnal animals might be more active we'll also see animals returning to their dens and doing more of nighttime activities for sure for sure so how how important would you say it is for for people like yourselves at institutions like these to kind of be able to record something like that in this once in another 20 years event yeah definitely it's really important to kind of take note and here out at the Highlands we have the perfect opportunity to see wildlife moving about we've got this big open Green Space um so yeah it's been a good spot to kind of take note of all the animals absolutely citizen science is huge take note of any really cool things that you see at home you see outside we would love to hear some of the really neat things you've seen during the eclipse awesome Katie and Samantha thank you so much for joining us really appreciate it and of course we're going to be keeping track this entire time people seem very excited here all of them about on the lawn here seem excited to watch this eclipse in full view with that 90 some per totality so we're going to be watching that we're going to be of course watching to see what happens in the wildlife here and we'll see you back here within the hour Lauren Elena Josh thank you and while Grand Rapids will not be seeing a total solar eclipse those closer to the Indiana Border in cold water we'll see a maximum solar eclipse of 97.6% and that's where we find 1or sides Micah Cho who joins us now hey there Micah hi guys and this is cool and I am excited like you said earlier the thing that's really cool about this is Cold Water Michigan is about as close as you can get to totality here in the state of Michigan now I kind of want show some of the crowd here that's Gathering uh to uh watch the eclipse we can see some uh DNR officer we have EMS and we have uh the city of cold water uh Public Works that are here we probably have half a or no not even half a dozen I'd probably say three dozen people coming out here to experience this Eclipse together uh kind of that sense of community that we've been talking about that kind of these cool events kind of bring everybody together and on our way down here I will say we were a little nervous about cloud cover coming down from Grand Rapids it was uh clear skies as Josh said just a few minutes ago but as we kind of crept down we were seeing a little bit of those thin clouds but really now looking at the sun I'm going to actually put up my eclipse glasses on real quick uh we can see it perfectly I mean it's probably halfway over halfway covered and with the uh Peak coming at around 311 uh later this afternoon again if you're not too far away from Branch County or cold water I suggest you come down because it this is a free event there's snacks over on that Booth Eclipse themed snacks nonetheless so it's really a cool event so for now we'll send it back to you guys in the studio in cold water mik show 13 on your side now I want to know what Eclipse themed snacks are should be in the show exactly Little Rock Arkansas is just moments away from hitting the peak of their Eclipse that's where we find chief meteorologist George lessons George how is the crowd getting ready for there here we go ladies and gentlemen all yes indeed we are we came from uh Grand rabbits to Little Rock and we are moments away from Total Sly eclipse and and you can hear Dave de Brien in the background the the Meritus of The Jeffy Planetarium and he is going to be watching the solar eclipse here go total and I'm going to turn the camera around and we're going to watch him and listen to the cheers almost completely covered watch for a diamond ring effect you may see it just before it goes and here comes the corona oh I see it oh my not see [Music] it look at how dark it's getting look at how dark it's getting's diamond ring oh my that's great I wish we could show it to you but I can't show you with the camera listen to the [Music] [Applause] crowd look at how dark it is here this is my second total eclipse the first one for me was 2017 in Oregon and now you can kind of [Music] see it's hard to see on the camera here because it's an iPhone that I'm using but definitely you can see as I zoom in a little bit there it is you get a picture I don't know if you can see that at home but that's what we're viewing right here Sunny around us and it's very cool around the Horizon that's a solar prominence there's a terrific prominence you can see one of a star that's Venus down to the lower right and everybody has taken their solar eclipse glasses off because it's safe to view it here in oght you can see how dark is here it looks like Twilight look at this it's just amazing fireworks going off that was a gunot I have Goosebumps guys that's not only because of the awesome spectacular but because the temperatures dropped about 10 degrees oh my gosh it's so amazing the bottom so amazing guys so we have four minutes and 9 seconds of totality look for the structure in the outer Corona notice how far out it goes you can see with your yeah everybody's taking their glasses off and they can see itow there are stars out the breeze has dropped temperature has dropped look at the eye it's amazing I don't know if you guys are hearing me but um the crowd is just very hushed look at that no the Prov it's hard to see the crow because it is so dark let me see if I can brighten it up just a little bit for you there we are there we go but it is almost totally dark here right now course the 36 Horizon like a deep Twilight that's exactly [Music] what okay it's getting bright look for the ring AF the uh Eclipse took about 4 minutes and 9 seconds it went very quickly to yeah very quickly to um total eclipse and then it's going to come out here very very shortly four minutes later and you can see uh either Jupiter or Venus down in the lower right because the stars are out it's amazing can hear commentary from Dave de Bren on the PA system here at the athletic field in Perryville Arkansas George it is amazing George you said it's getting cooler there because of thep going War back dropped and it's just oh yes it'll probably do the reverse of what it did before when the listen to everybody here we go here we go we're coming back out the diamond ring is coming back out and we're going to lose to ality listen to the [Applause] [Music] crowd is it starting to get light again out there look at how much brighter it's getting very quickly so I yes uh it's not quite that light because I've got the uh Iris turned way down it is still pretty dark it's about like this right now this is what it isow so it is brightening up very quickly and that is almost that's just totally amazing what it's my second eclipse and it's just as amazing as the first that is just awesome George it looks so cool right now I'm I'm a little jealous of his view yeah well check back in with you later George thank you enjoy enjoy that fun over here thank you this is a live look at Cold Water Michigan wow it is just all of this today that we've seen so far has just been so cool I mean this looks doesn't even look real but is definitely real and I know uh that's where Maho is and that's the view he's getting right now that is just incredible we just saw chief meteorologist George lon's experience that totality the eclipse just passed over Little Rock Arkansas where he was and now we want to hear from meteorologist Samantha Jack she's in Richmond Indiana and she's only about 10 minutes away from Peak totality Samantha what are you seeing right now you know what Lauren Elena hearing George's reaction gave me chills I can only imagine what we're going to be experiencing just 10 minutes from now the atmosphere the sky our surroundings have changed so much from the start of this show and we're joined by an astronomer here at the University thank you so much Dr Wes chovin for joining us today tell us a little bit about the stage that we're in right now well right now we're coming up on First Contact here in about 10 minutes uh that's when the totality begins and uh we've already we already can see visually it's darker uh colors are starting to change just a little bit and uh we're starting to see some really dramatic pinhole effects absolutely let's explain what that is to our viewers who aren't in totality right now I'm going to hold out this paper that just has normal Circle hole punches on it explain what's happening to us so as the light is coming through the pin holes and reaching down here to the ground it's it's actually displaying the appearance of the the partial eclipse from each of those individual little pin holes um all the way around uh pinhole viewing is one great way that you can uh explore the eclipse in partial uh as it's a partial eclipse um but at the same time remember that you're always uh shining the light towards something else don't look through it with your own eyes shine it on something else absolutely and that's why we don't have to have our glasses on at the moment because we're not looking into the sun if we were looking into the sun we're immediately putting the glasses on another thing I'm noticing is how dark the Shadows look yes why is that well the edges of the Shadows are actually getting sharper which makes it look a lot darker but also the sliver of the sun is so much smaller that we're actually getting less light okay so it makes the Shadows appear much darker absolutely we've got these viewers behind us telescopes and whatnot what is it that you can actually see through those amplifi different than even just with the glasses well the the telescope brings us a closer view a magnified view so what we can see through most telescopes is actually a we can see sunspots we can see even the smaller sunspots and we can see the little lighter areas around it called plages but through this telescope in particular this one is a fancy one that's designed specifically to look at the sun through one wavelength of light and allows us to to look at solar flares and solar prominences um and right now it's a it's an amazing view uh to see a partial eclipse and see solar flares at the same time I was able to check it out we've got video of my reaction that will make sure to get back to all of you Dr West toin we appreciate your expertise more than I could even explain to you we're going to send it back to you in the studio it's turning dusk out here and we can't wait to experience totality with all of you back at home Samantha thank you thec excitement is growing for those in Richmond but for those in Little Rock they have just experienced the total Sol solar Clips we saw that and man were they excited it was very very neat Chief meterologist George lessons is here and George explain to me explain to our viewers what it is you saw and what that felt like yes absolutely excited yes beautiful it was amazing how it went from uh almost total sunshine to Total dusk in a matter of seconds and the wind and the temperature dropped and everybody was just became very silent and everybody is just still got chills in there uh excited that they got to see another total eclipse uh I want to uh have a little interview with uh the mayor and his wife from Perryville and I'm GNA hand the mic over to you this is John and Carol Roland uh we loved coming to Perryville and we really appreciate your hospit ality oh we're tickled you're here a great group we're just glad to do anything we can for y'all y'all informed us on things that we hadn't thought about opened her eyes it's it's been a great experience I'm glad y'all were here it enhanced it tremendously it made the whole experience so much better to be here with y'all well we appreciate you having us here and uh we'll be back for the next eclipse I don't know when that's happening not not in Fairville but absolutely it was very terrific and and um we're going to have a party later tonight aren't we yes awesome very good so um Yes again we've had a very terrific Eclipse experience here in Perryville Arkansas and um we are going to be heading back to West Michigan it's a two-day trip for us and uh we really enjoyed it like to thank my wife Sher for coming along with me um did a lot of the navigating as well and the travel arrangements so we'll be back in West Michigan here later this week back to you in the studio all right George thank you to mosan now meteorologist Blake Hansen is joined by the president the mosan Astronomical Society Blake how's it going out there yeah hey there guys uh a really cool uh experience out here in mosan I know we're not in the path of totality but even so you can really tell within the last 10 minutes uh the sky has dimmed somewhat uh can feel the breeze at least less and it was been been rather Gusty here over the last hour but the breeze is somewhat lessening uh but by far the sky is dimming people are looking at the telescope here uh at the msk and uh Observatory and you just hear the oo and O's and joining me is the treasurer of the U migan Astronomical Society here and Dennis nice being here with you and what does it feel to have all these people we have dozens and dozens of people out here what do that mean we we would love to have people like this all the time this is what we're here for and what is your emotion uh seeing this today uh some people are actually going to be uh visiting our next open house uh probably going to get some new members yeah so yeah we're we're here anytime you get people hooked on astronomy that's that's all good and what do we got set up here we have the what type of telescope is a uh 13inch Newtonian uh dobsonian mount on an equatorial platform and uh and people are all set yep and you can we got a we got a solar filter B filter on here and we can uh uh yeah oh we see a nice Crescent Moon there this the second sun spot just got covered uh so it's just a nice Crescent and it should be too much more like I say 93% so it be a real by the time it Maxes uh what time is it here or just a pass a little bit after three now yeah quter out it'll be it'll max out at real thin Crescent so you can see it's already getting getting clear and it's one of these things over the last 10 15 minutes uh of course we're not in totality the path of totality but the sky has dimmed a good amount it has and the wind died down good that's very good so yeah just an awesome experience here and uh you know people uh like you said if they want to keep uh coming out uh to see anything about astronomy what do they need to do to come out here uh just come out here then uh check the website just Google mosan astronomy club find our website our next open house is June 8th uh we have two or three every month All Summer Long come on out here if you have a telescope bring it with you we'll show you how to use it uh you want to join the club join the club if you want to borrow a telescope borrow a telescope that's that's what we're hearing for to get get you hook on astronomy of course all hands- on that's that's our big thing we're you know we want you under under a dark sky actually looking at objects rather than looking at pictures in on on the internet exactly and if it wasn't too Breezy we'd be in the bigger telescope today that's right yeah we would be running the C11 right now but I with the wind was we don't we're not set up to be viewing even at night at with 30 mph wind we we wouldn't be doing that normally so but by far we've seen this wind really uh diminish over over over the last 10 minutes I was hoping for that with the wind with the with the solar uh cutting down in the Sun that would it and it did do it it cut down this now this is tolerable this is nice yeah you can really feel these conditions change out here in msan yeah it's co need put a jacket oh I'll get a jacket out a little bit no Dennis thanks so much for being here okay and we're going to be back with Dennis in a little bit and of course we have dozens of people out here at the observatory in mosan people are oo and and a and that is for sure and it's a very enjoyable time out here in mseg we're going to be back in a few minutes from now as we get closer to the uh ma maximum to ality out here in mosan we'll send it back to you guys in the studio thanks Blake we're now just minutes away from meteorologist Samantha Jack experiencing 100% totality in Richmond Indiana Sam I hope everyone has their solar e eclipse glasses nearby guys we are just minutes away it's getting kind of loud here a little bit tricky to hear you all back in the studio but at this point in time what I'm looking at I'll look away from the Sun for right now but what I'm looking at at this point in time is this change in color surrounding me we are just minutes away from experiencing totality the other thing that our astronomer I'm going to put these back on so I can glance back up told me to look out for is starting to see little changes of color surrounding the corona of this total solar eclipse he says that we should be experiencing and seeing little flares and actually I am seeing a little flare off of the wow oh my gosh that is incredible we are not in totality yet you can still see a sliver of the Sun at this point in time but that it's just this little glare of fire that's coming right up off of it and when you put your glasses on and check it out it is just absolutely miraculous at this point in time let's I'm just listening right now to what the astronomer is saying at this point in time yes so at this point in time he's explaining that you're starting to notice the color of the sky changing to a purple Hue I also you know what I've got this in my pocket here this is actually a temperature sensor and this is an experiment that I really wanted to do during the total solar eclipse so right now the pavement is sitting at 77° what we're going to experience happen during this total solar eclipse is a complete temperature drop but we are just minutes away here maybe even seconds at this point in time not entirely sure of the time it is just wisping away piece by piece I can still see a little crescent of the sun one thing that we need to remember in A Moment Like This this awe inspiring moment is that the sun is 400 times larger than the moov okay 400 times larger than the moon but the Moon is 400 times closer to the Earth and so that is how that magic can happen right that is how you're able to get this beautiful moment in science where the moon can cover something that is so much larger from our presence here on Earth it is the middle of the day we are talking just after 3:00 and the light is slowly dimming away around us I'm actually starting to get chills because you can really start to to see the change I don't know if you guys can notice what's happening at home but it really really is miraculous Shadow bands are starting to go across the cement at this point in time okay that is what Dr West hobin is telling us to look for oh and you can see it it's like a little pin wheel that's spinning around us and here it is oh my goodness we are officially in totality wow listen to everybody around us oh my gosh wow this truly is an out of this world experience oh my goodness it just takes your breath away if you look closely what he's telling us right now is that we can see some sler flares from the western side of this you can see Venus off to the side as well we need to get people's reactions and now everybody can take their glasses off because we are in totality at this point in time right so we no longer need to be wearing these solar eclipse glasses how's everybody feeling right now no cap hey this is once a lifetime opportunity this is great we are thankful for I and doing this yes absolutely absolutely what are you guys feeling yeah never seen anything like this so cool absolutely this is insane crazy awesome how about you what are you thinking what are you feeling this is like a once in a-lifetime thing it's like the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life tell tell the viewers at home what what are what are you seeing right now um a total eclipse a total solar eclipse another thing that you can see around us is that we've got this 360 Sunset that led us to this DUS look in the middle of the afternoon how is everybody feeling yeah what's this like what's this like what's going through your head um wasn't expecting it to look like this to be honest it's pretty cool yeah cooler than you imagined right truly just it takes your breath away it gives you chills I mean it looks like something truly out of a movie what are you watching yeah that's understandable that's understandable wow okay yes okay so we've got animals animals are reacting to this that's something that we're expected to be listening for and paying attention to this really is that once in a-lifetime moment this is exactly what we've been preparing for the weather cooperated Mother Nature cooperated and right now we are seeing one of Earth's most magnificent spectacles wow I just absolutely in awe Doug Grievous is behind the camera Amari put that microphone up to Doug Doug how are you feeling you love astronomy and science almost as much as I do oh yeah this is incredible uh you know like everyone said the pictures don't do it justice I it's something you got to go see yeah I wish that I could come up with more words to say Hey you think about what's going on this is awesome this is totally awesome uh you know you hear about it but you don't until you see it you don't really know you're going to look at this is unbelievable yeah it truly is it truly truly is the fact that it is completely dark outside at this point in time we can see stars we can see planets because the sun is that powerful that it makes it completely block out all of these incredible things during the day and something as small as the moon can line up just right every once in a while to make this perfect event happen we'll check back in with you guys in just a few minutes here until then we're going to keep enjoying this moment wow that is absolutely incredible Sam I kind of wish I was there but we're still getting a pretty good view here outside of our WZZM 1 on your side Studios you can see all of our lovely co-workers here Downing their glasses looking at the solar eclipse once again we don't have that complete totality here in West ma West Michigan but let me tell you if you put on these glasses and look up at the sun right now it it looks like just a tiny sliver it's still an incredible View and getting an even better view than here in Grand Rapids Walker area is 13 your signs Micah Cho who's in Cold Water Michigan theyve getting about 97.6% close to that totality there Micah joins us now and Micah what's you can see just that you can see that just sliver of the sun right there this is our live feed here from cold water where we can see about 97% to ality now just kind of show you I wish I could show you guys what I see and how happy people are we have everybody putting on their solar eclipse glasses just looking up at the Sun and I wish I could show how dark it is but not only that how cold it is I know Sam earlier in the week said we could feel a temperature difference I want to say maybe it's dropped about 5° here it does feel a little bit colder and I am in a in a t-shirt but real quick I have a history teacher here Karen kiss Karen can you tell me what are you seeing right now and how does this make you feel um I'm seeing I mean most of it covered there's a little sliver I guess we'd say to the right that um we're seeing the Sun but it's definitely gotten a a lot cooler out and it just um it's just really interesting to see history history being made how cool is this it's very cool yes I mean very uh different through the glasses night time through the glasses it's night time take off the glasses and it's still shiny outside right outside absolutely thank you guys and again we're here at Heritage Park in cold water where we can see 97% totality about the closest you can get to totality here in the state of Michigan so for now we'll send it back to you guys in the studio in cold water mik CH 13 on your side Micah thank you and I got to agree with that woman you spoke to it really is cool to see history being made right now even outside here of our studio it's definitely kind of like a hazy like it's not completely clear like it was earlier and it's definitely a little bit chillier we're going to toss things now to Blake who's in mosan Blake what are you seeing out there right now yeah hey there guys uh by far the uh sky has dimmed a good amount of course we won't reach a totality where uh we can take off the solar eclipse glasses to view the Sun but regardless it's just a unique view when you do look at the sun with these glasses uh joining me is uh Gabe here and Gabe uh what does it feel like looking in at this uh solar eclipse it's just so surreal to see it it's just an amazing moment you know it is it's going to be the last time for 20 years till 2044 and it's just an amazing moment just going to embrace it exactly that's the thing you know 20 more years until this really happens here in the United States I of course wasn't it something when the sky really started to dim oh yeah it was awesome dude seeing it um it was all light and then just go to dark M and what is like that feeling one more time of just uh seeing something like this it's just spectacular it's surreal it's like something I've never felt before it's amazing and and for you what did you feel about seeing this right now I just think it's the coolest thing because there's something and things that are so much bigger than us out there and to know that like it's passing in between us and the Sun and it's I mean we're so much smaller actually but to see it it's so cool guys thanks so much for sharing just a few words enjoy the view as it continues of course we are in here at about 93 94% uh ality we got dozens of people here at the observatory just again ooze and a I think that's just the best way uh to view this uh people have all sorts of solar glasses they're looking at it through the telescope here at the observatory uh guys how does it feel to view this uh this Eclipse right here it's unbelievable it their words can't describe it I don't think other than it's it's going away and it's starting gon to come back and it's colder and um and um I don't know if it's any more windy but it's it's it's a humbling experience I I think that's that's the best way to put it guys enjoy this Eclipse by the way uh this is just a really cool experience here of course you know we're seeing about 93 94% of totality here at the observatory people are enjoying this time out here uh we're going to continue to be uh live for a little bit longer at the uh mosan Astronomical Society Observatory for now we'll send it back to Elena and Lauren in the studio well Blake we're not out in the studio anymore because we had to come outside to the parking lot and see our solar eclipse with our glasses and we also have a calendar um the reason being if you just didn't happen to get one of those glasses I know it's sold they're sold out at a lot of places you can take something a piece of paper cardboard box a colander with little dots in it and if you hold it up the shadow I know you're not going to be able to see this on camera but you can see the eclipse the outline of whatever you would see in the glasses through the holes in the shadow so that's a quick and easy way to see things if you don't happen to have these glasses but I know all of our co-workers do because we care about our eye safety Lauren is what's it look like it it honestly it looks really cool it's like a almost like a yellow color and it's definitely like glowing definitely use something you see in a movie and I want to bring out Billy Billy you've been out here for a long time he works in production for us what's kind of your reaction right now uh this is really impressive uh the last time michigan had an eclipse like this I wasn't able to get a pair of these glasses and let me tell you they help a lot this is really cool to look at right now and I've kind of not been able to look away for the past 10ish minutes does it like look surreal out there right now uh it is noticeably darker it's nowhere near like if we were near totality but it does look like there's sort of a tint to the world which is interesting to see yeah it's it's so interesting thank you so much Billy oh let's see you can't really see much else with these glasses on there we go there's our camera you know it's great too when you look outside as Billy mentioned it does feel a little bit darker even though it's not that totality that we're seeing things feel a little bit different that's for sure that's for sure we're going to toss things now to Josh Josh what are you seeing out there well it was just really an incredible site here for a lot of us here at blenford you know we didn't reach entire totality as they did places like Arkansas and some places in Indiana but it was really cool to see just like it was very like discolored in a way the the the extent to which it was covered by the moon really gave way to some kind of really cool discoloring it was just so amazing to see we're joined Now by a couple a couple people who were watching it alongside us thank you for joining us thank you for talking to us kind of just give us your just your first name first and you know what what you thought as we kind of saw this reach the peak of what it was here in Grand Rapids well I'm here with my cousin Craig and it's just I think it's just great you know people come out you know uh you know strengthens the community you know seeing everybody out here and uh you know it's a beautiful day and I do you have a timetable when this thing's going to happen again what what what is like 30 years another uh we're expecting be I'll just could can fact check me on that but but I believe another 20 to 30 years it's it's going to be a while it's going to be a while so yeah yeah I'll be I'll be at probably downside of my uh life you'll be dead I'll be yeah well when you live when you when you live fast and loose that's what happens you know so so so it was just just amazing to see this right you know you what what what did you have to say I know you had your glasses on the whole time you know what it what was it like for you I I like it I like uh it's it's dreary it's Eerie you could just it's palpable you can you can you can feel the feel it getting darker and darker just Eerie I like it absolutely perfect explanation of what we saw here thank you so thank you so much for talking to us I mean they came out here thick as th so I got I got to say they're probably about yes thank you so much we're going to send it back you to you Lauren and Elena this has been such a fun day here in Grand Rapids as you saw we just came back inside from outside of the parking lot where all of our co-workers are out there watching thep I don't feel like I'm at work right now I like this is so surreal I just want to go outside and look up at the sky with my glasses on but we do need to go talk to meteorologist Samantha Jack she's been reporting from Richmond V or Richmond Indiana wow she had that incredible totality there Sam what was the reaction on the campus like during the eclipse oh my gosh well you guys saw it along with me I hope that you were able to feel it through the screen because it was like something you know out of a fairy tale out of a story book a Twilight movie right the way that the sky went dark and yes I'm working I say it in quotes but I'm surrounded founded right now by my work family too who are not here to work but here to experience this and what a special moment for all of us from behind the scenes to sitting here observing it to get to have this moment together Katie what did it feel like it felt good I've never seen something like this before yeah it was amazing it truly was and James how about you how did you feel um when the sky went dark I was really amazed absolutely yeah it really was incredible I think I for months how am I going to how am I going to feel what will I say all the stats I need to have my brain full of all of this knowledge right none of that mattered in that moment because it is like something you have never experienced 2045 that's the next time that the United States is going to see a total solar eclipse that is as expansive as what we experience today but 31,000 people lived in the path of totality lived this experience along with us and I am just so grateful how about you guys you grateful yes yeah grateful that we got to have this moment not just together but with all of you at home as well I wish that I had the right words the perfect thing to say but all that I know is that I'm just so grateful for my WZZM family not only for bringing me out here to experience this but also for being here to surround us with so much love and support as well I'm going to send it back to you guys in the studio wow that's in it almost makes me want to take a trip in 202 2044 and you know Sam is so right about that because experience this with this team has just been incredible you've seen George you've seen Sam all the reporters out in the field even our team being outside the parking lot like it it really has been awesome that was fantastic and you know who else is seeing a great view of the eclipse today it's their 10 your sides Micah Cho who's in cold water hey there Micah how's it going hi Laura and Elena it's it's still pretty cool out here most of the crowd has left but uh I'm here with Paul jaub Zac uh director of public utility here in coldw and you guys held a viewing for uh not only your employees but the public as well today correct yes we felt that this was a great event for us to get our employees engaged in a once in a-lifetime uh opportunity come out here we figured that be watching it anyway so why not doing it in a safe environment provide them GL the approved glasses snacks all that together and it was a great turnout here for the utility as well as for the city yeah if it's going to be a distraction you guys might as well throw a party right we might as well embrace it and do it together as a group now what what did you guys think about uh being at 97% totality here it it was great to see uh you know as it started getting darker and darker it started getting cooler the wind start picking up but other than that it was a great event to see the that sun drop down to 97% uh granted we didn't get the 100% but the 97% will take it and you guys had quite the showing out here what was it about 60 to 100 we're about 60 about 50% % of our total employees were here some were across they they work different shifts and then probably another 30 or 40 from the uh customer base as well too so yeah about 100 or so total and now to kind of a few of the more fun things I was yelled at by my girlfriend and a few other people in my family for saying that you guys had Eclipse themed snacks but I didn't explain what snacks you guys had we had E clips uh snacks and they were moon pies we had Cosmic Brownies Sun Chips and Cosmic themed Oreos as well Perfect all right and so we can see that the eclipse is kind excuse me passing through um if you do still want to get a glimpse of the sun here at uh Heritage Park right there are still a few people lingering around so but we'll send it back to you guys in the studio for now in cold water M show 13 on your side I am so glad that Micah clarified the snacks cuz I was curious too and you know sunship not only is the name Sun Chips perfect for today but they had that special release of a certain flavor for only the 4 minutes or something in totality so if you had your hands on one of those I hope you enjoyed it we didn't get any obviously but that's okay we're not going to check in with meteorologist Blake Hansen Blake what are you seeing out there yeah hey there I'm uh still viewing the eclipse with the our safe uh solar eclipse glasses and this was just a remarkable time out here at the observatory in mosan people are starting to head out now uh now that we are past the maximum of this totality of around 93 94% but again the uh The Vibes here were just absolutely amazing people uh astounded by the views they were seeing uh with their solar eclipse glasses and while we weren't in the path of totality it was a very uh humbling experience that's what one of the uh gentlemen here was uh explaining to me we saw the sky darkened somewhat at least dim uh the temperature dropped off by a few degrees and the wind uh lightened up for a touch as well uh just a very unique experience uh I think that's the best way to describe it and what everyone else uh here has been seeing in mosan uh we've had uh kids we've had adults ranging from their 20s all the way in I was talking to people in their 70s and 80s uh the oldest gentleman I talk to he was near 90 years old uh and he came all the way from Alaska uh to view this uh uh solar eclipse at least the partial eclipse he was originally from mosan uh again just a very enjoyable time out here at the observatory uh the eclipse still ongoing but we're going to see this all wrap up within the next hour for now we'll send it back to Elena and Lauren Blake thank you just so cool to see just how this eclipse is impacting so many places so many different places all across area even here in Grand Rapids where we find 13e sides Josh albertis in Grand Rapids yeah Elena Lauren I just you know looked through my special glasses yeah oh is my mic off you turn off apology my mic was off apologies for that I was just saying we looked through our special glasses here just a moment ago you know the Moon the Moon is on its way out so we've kind of returned to the full color we saw before like we mentioned when we were at Peak 94% here was what we were expecting it was pretty discolored it was a really really weird really cool feeling but also you know we're in the middle of nature as we said earlier what we kind of saw here what we kind of heard you know I didn't hear personally a single bird or a single sound of that matter when it came to the peak here when we were at 94% and now they've all returned so it was kind of weird to have that you know kind of Silence kind of quiet as you kind of took in the what happened around you and that was kind of missing so it was kind of weird to see that but we'll see exactly you know what all the zoos and and other animal experts have exactly to say about that but that was pretty cool to see as well but that but this was just people are wrapping up here and we're just about done but it was a really cool experience for a lot lot of people here in the Grand Rapids area live in Grand Rapids Josh Alber is 13 on your side I think Josh was just excited of looking at the's like I don't need a mic I could just talk absolutely I mean this kind of been the day just you know it's been such an incredible thing that we you don't see very often so it's you know I think we're all just a little a little excited about everything and and learning things too I've certainly learned a lot of things from our reporters like you know the Shadows I didn't realize that the edges of the Shadows when you're standing out there get more crisp when you're during an eclipse that was really incredible to see when we went out to the parking lot too yeah and right now what you're seeing your screen is actually hted main you can see this eclipse is still going in some parts of the country what I learned is the temperature dropping I never thought to think about that and even being outside we didn't see a total eclipse here but like it still got really cold outside I should have brought my jacket yes absolutely incredible to see I hope everybody was able to get outside and look it up at the sky and see it with their glasses I think you can still even see a little bit of it too if you go out now even if it's not in that Peak range but man just an incredible time and if you didn't see everything I know we're going to be having stuff on 13 onyou side.com so if you missed anything check out our website we've got complete coverage of this today 13 plus too if you've got our app on fire stick and Roku but thank you so much for joining our special coverage of the Great American Eclipse you know I just love the St I love the I love the people I started watching the weather in the morning so I would know how to dress my kids going out the door for school sometimes I'll turn on a different Channel and um you know what I I just think 13 is better coffee first then Channel 13 I feel like I'm watching my friends on TV no matter which way you look at it 13 just makes your morning better find out for yourself weekday starting at 4:30 weather ball red