Weather forecast for 'ring of fire' solar eclipse on Oct. 14

a ring of orange light surrounds the dark sphere of the moon.

The moon obscures most of the sun during an annular, or "ring of fire," eclipse. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Dunford)

Almost all of North America will experience a weird and dramatic event on Saturday (Oct. 14), when a partial eclipse of the sun will be visible. Depending on where you are, the sun will appear slightly dented, deeply crescent shaped or even ring-shaped.

But skywatchers across the U.S. who are looking forward to viewing the sun appearing to morph into a spectacular "ring of fire" in the sky — will take place. Such a sight is referred to as an annular eclipse.

Clouds may eclipse the eclipse

VIEW ECLIPSES SAFELY!

a pair of blue paper glasses — (Image credit: Amazon)

If you're looking for safe optics to view the eclipse, we recommend the travel-friendly solar telescope. You can also consult our guide to solar eclipse is taking place. Places within the eclipse path here include Eugene and Medford in Oregon and Alturas, California.

Farther down-track along the eclipse path, through the rest of Nevada, Utah, northeast Arizona and much of New Mexico, clouds are also expected to prevail, but they will likely be more of the mid-to-high level variety, not thick and opaque. Such clouds will probably be thin enough to allow for views of the sun through them, although they also could give a "milkiness" to the sky overall. Among locations within the path of the annular eclipse here are Winnemucca and Elko, Nevada; Richfield, Utah; and Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

A stalled weather front hung up over southern and southwestern Texas adjacent to the Mexican border might spoil the view by generating an area of cloud cover over places like Del Rio, Uvalde and perhaps San Antonio.

Perhaps the clearest views — with the fewest clouds — will be over southeast New Mexico, northwest Texas and the southern Gulf Coast of Texas. Places within this favored zone include Carlsbad and Hobbs, New Mexico and Midland, Odessa and Corpus Christi, Texas.

Farther east, a storm centered near the Indiana/Ohio border will spread a large area of clouds across the northern and central Plains, the Tennessee and Ohio river valleys, east to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. A second storm — the remnants of what was once Tropical Storm Lidia — will be moving off the coast of the Carolinas and will spread additional cloudiness over the Southeast U.S. Finally, a storm departing New England into Atlantic Canada will leave lingering cloud cover in its wake.

Refer to our U.S. map below for general probabilities for viewing the eclipse.

Of course, we stress that this national outlook is merely a generalization — a broad-brush look at sky conditions from coast to coast. For a more detailed and localized outlook, we suggest checking the latest updated forecast from your local National Weather Service office. How to observe the sun safely (and what to look for)

black-and-white map of the contiguous United States, labeling different regions with the expected viewing conditions during the solar eclipse of oct. 14, 2023.