FILE - The moon starts to block the sun during a solar eclipse seen through a cloud, in Skopje, Macedonia, Friday, March 20, 2015, in the last total solar eclipse visible in Europe for over a decade. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski, File)

The weather is changing regularly for Monday’s eclipse, with initial forecasts of cloudy weather now giving way to sun.

The average weather for April 8 in the past sees the average maximum temperature coming in at 52.4 degrees. The average minimum temperature for the day is 31.9 degrees and on average the day sees 0.17 inches of precipitation, 0.3 inches of snow and 0.7 inches of snow depth. The Weather Channel currently has the forecast for April 8, 2024 reading 59 degrees and partly cloudy with five to ten miles per hour winds.

Considering this potential forecast, how people will be able to see and experience the total solar eclipse is likely to change. Tom Traub, vice president of the Martz-Kohl Observatory in Frewsburg, said that with cloud cover nothing will actually change with the eclipse itself.

“There will be no change with what the eclipse itself does but the weather will modify what you see,” Traub said. “Even with cloud cover it will still get dark and the temperature will still change but it will not be as extreme as it would be if it was clear.”

Instead of a potential ten degree temperature drop, Traub said cloud cover might make it drop around half of that. The expected effects of the eclipse will still be there but they will be muted. Traub added that the effects will depend on the level of cloud cover as well.

“If the clouds are thin enough, like thin enough that you can still see blue through them, you will probably still see the sun and the corona,” Traub said. “You will still see the basic details at least, and the inner corona but maybe not the outer corona. You probably won’t be able to see the stars because of the clouds but you will still see the shadow caused by the eclipse.”

Traub has witnessed total solar eclipses before in both 2017 and 1991 and said the weather in both cases also changed things. The weather may change the way people can see the eclipse, so that people can still experience it but just not as well.

Even with cloud cover, Traub said it is important for people to still protect their eyes.

“If it is cloudy enough you might not be able to see it but you still shouldn’t take your glasses off,” Traub said. “There will still be enough UV light coming through to damage your eyes.”

No matter the weather, Traub said the total solar eclipse will still be a once in a lifetime event. Other parts of the day will be the memories to take away from it, he added.

“We can’t control the weather,” Traub said. “It’s one of those experiences that will still be a once in a lifetime event but you have to take what it is. You will still see things that you can’t normally see. Experiencing it with your friends and family is the memory you will take away from it, even if you are underwhelmed with the rest.”