Lapidary forecast anticipates rain for the eclipse: what will be seen?

The next total solar eclipse Monday, December 14 It promised to be a perfect day. The combination of the astronomical phenomenon, added to the scenario in which it takes place, was the ideal.

With the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, the situation became complicated. What seemed like a party, is no longer. And now it adds, as if it were not enough, a new element: rainfall. The forecasts indicate that next Monday it would rain.

Raúl Cordero, climatologist from the University of Santiago, points out that the great culprit of these precipitations is the La Niña phenomenon. “From a climatological point of view, what can be said is that the cooling of the surface temperature of the tropical Pacific, what we call La Niña, is generally associated with precipitation, and therefore, with cloudiness in the south-central area of ​​the country”.

Arnaldo Zúñiga, meteorologist and diffusion manager for the Meteorological Directorate of Chile (DMC) explains that in the south it rains all year round, although with less frequency and intensity towards the summer. “From tomorrow until Sunday there are three disturbances (fronts) that move through the south of the Bío-Bío. During the passage of the systems there is rain, once they cross into Argentina they leave the air colder and more unstable where showers can be generated ”.

Although astronomical phenomena do not influence the climate, “The eclipse can alter the atmosphere for a time around the zone of total darkness of the eclipse. This is because solar radiation stops radiating an area of ​​the planet for a few minutes and then radiates it again. This rapid change in radiation intensity can cause some atmospheric waves that are of scientific interest, but which are imperceptible to the population ”, explains Cordero.

According to NOAA, “there is an 85% probability that the La Niña phenomenon it extends at least until the end of the austral summer ”, establishes Cordero.

“On Monday the 14th from Araucanía to the south we were in a post frontal area, since the front will already be in Argentina, therefore we will be in an unstable front post mass with the probability of some showers from Araucanía to the south ”, adds Zúñiga.

Rain seems to be an element that could ruin the eclipse as well as a cloudy day. But, if that day it rains or is cloudy, in short, what will be seen? The dark sun through the clouds? Will it darken the same?

Lamb says it’s cloudy isn’t that dramatic. “The same can be seen in general through the clouds. ” Add that you see, “But, in the area of ​​total darkness if it is cloudy you will not be able to see the crown of the sun that is part of the show.”

Although he clarifies that “it is not advisable to never look at the Sun with bare eyes directly with clouds or without clouds ”.

Zúñiga adds a share of hope. “You do not see multiple layers of clouds as occurs during the passage of a front where the Sun is not appreciated, so the panorama is not so unfavorable. Although it will be cloudy until noon, and the clouds would predominate over the Sun, after noon it will improve, in fact they will be less dense clouds ”.

When was it in Antarctica (2018) not that there was a hole in the clouds, “Is that the Sun in general can be seen through the clouds. It would have to be very cloudy to not see anything … let’s hope that’s not the case, ”says Cordero.