The wildest estimates for eclipse visitors predicted up to 1 million people would stream into Buffalo and Niagara Falls for the big event Monday.
While there wasn’t an update the day afterward about how many people came into the region, it was clear the final visitor tally was nowhere near the anticipated totals of hundreds of thousands of travelers.
Traffic jams, especially after the total eclipse? Not a problem. Massive crowds elbowing for space along waterways and in parks? Barely. Long lines for dining and special attractions? A few spots here and there, but hardly the norm.
Those who predict such numbers say the best-case scenarios were based on the experiences of other communities during previous totalities – and on ideal weather.
When it became apparent that cloud cover would obscure much of our view, dedicated eclipse chasers looked elsewhere for a better vantage point.
“They drove into Niagara Falls, because that was a place to see it, and then they saw the weather and headed out somewhere else,” said Jonathan Schultz, Niagara County fire coordinator and director of emergency services.
Signs were plentiful on Saturday that a sudden crush of visitors would soon arrive in the area. But clouds could affect the size of the crowds.
Schultz…
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