A total solar eclipse will soon be visible in Upstate New York for the first time in nearly 100 years.
The 2024 solar eclipse path of totality includes cities like Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Oswego and Syracuse. Totality is expected to begin around 3:17 p.m. on Monday, April 8, in Western New York’s Chautauqua County and end in Plattsburgh in the Adirondacks region around 3:25 p.m. Each place will be in total darkness for up to 4 minutes.
It’s exciting because the region was last in a solar eclipse’s path of totality in 1925, so tourists are expected to make special trips to see the spectacle. As a result, a warning has been issued for eclipse watchers in some parts of Upstate New York.
WPTZ-TV reports the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST), in collaboration with the Adirondack Mountain Club and Adirondack Council, has issued a series of safety tips for those planning to see the eclipse in the Adirondacks mountain region.
“We’re very excited for it. However, we’re concerned that people outside of the Adirondacks may not understand that it will still be winter conditions in the high peaks,” said Justin Levine, Communications Associate at Adirondack Council.
Levine told the Plattsburgh TV station that hikers unfamiliar with the area should not expect spring weather, even in April. Mountain summits and higher elevations will likely be covered in snow and ice, while unpredictable weather that time of year can include risks of flash flooding and ice jams.
“Be prepared to self-rescue. Have overnight equipment, extra food, extra water, extra insulation to keep warm. Things like that,” Levine urged backcountry adventurers.
ROOST has also set up a website, 2024-eclipse.com, to help visitors and residents prepare for the solar eclipse experience in the Adirondacks. It includes a list of public spaces, events and recommendations for places to stay near Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Lake Champlain, Tupper Lake and Whiteface Mountain.
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