Q&A with meteorologist Morgan Palmer ahead of total solar eclipse

Morgan Palmer, chief meteorologist for KIRO 7 News, will be in Oregon for the total eclipse on Monday, Aug. 21, but there will be a 92 percent eclipse in the Seattle area too.

What will it look like? What glasses do you need? The public was invited to ask Morgan their questions on a Reddit AMA. See a collection of some of the questions and answers below.

It will get a bit darker from what others say they have experienced (like early sunset or late sunrise kind of light), but only in the areas of totality will it become truly like twilight. However, if we have heavy overcast (not too likely), darkness in areas of Western Washington could well be more pronounced. I hate to not give a firm answer, but having not experienced 90+% totality (like we'll have in Western Washington) personally, I'm hesitant to relay third-person experiences. That said, it won't be pitch black! If it gets darker with any note in Western Washington, it would just be for a relatively short (20 minutes) period right around 10:20 a.m. peak time. I hope this helps.

>> How to protect your eyes and camera during eclipse

Hi Ziac45, Eclipse glasses are necessary for several big reasons if you want to actually see the eclipse: 1) Even with 90+ percent covered, if you look directly at the sun, the sliver of sun visible will completely overwhelm your vision. You wouldn't be able to see any detail. It'd be like looking at the sun on a normal day... in other words, you'll just be squinting into a bright point of light in the sky. If you want to really see the "crescent sun" and any detail at all with the eclipse, you'll have to have eclipse glasses. 2) Glancing at the sun over and over again will cause damage. The exposure of your retina to the sun -- and the resulting damage -- is cumulative, meaning while the initial pain that causes you to look away will subside, the temporary eye damage that caused the pain remains. Continuing to expose your eyes over and over by glancing could make that damage permanent. Anyway, even if safety were not a concern, the only way actually observe and enjoy it is with eclipse glasses or by other means such as a pinhole projector. Good luck!

>> Eclipse traffic is already awful and we're still four days away

This is an exciting side effect of the eclipse! In areas of totality, like in Oregon, the temperature drop will be noticeable -- maybe even 10-15 degrees in drier areas like Madras, OR where I'll be with our KIRO 7 crew Monday. In Seattle and other areas of Washington where we won't have a total eclipse? I'd suspect a few degrees... maybe five? Humidity of the air and time of day has a lot to do with this too. If we're a little more humid, the swing will be less than if the atmosphere is quite dry. We shall see!

>> When will the partial eclipse pass over Western Washington?

We'll have our equipment in place this weekend and already have a spot reserved at the Solarfest in Madras. But, traffic will be slow for sure! Chopper 7 would be awesome but we need large satellite equipment to transmit a signal and so it has to go by ground.

Hi there. There is no safe time. And even if safety weren't the big issue, unless you're in the area of total eclipse (that 100% area in Oregon and other states), you wouldn't be able to see any detail. Even at 92% of the sun covered by the moon like it is in Seattle, it'll still be way too bright to see anything at all other than... a really bright point in the sky! So eclipse glasses or some other mechanism like a pinhole projector are the only ways to go for safety, and to actually enjoy and see any detail in the eclipse! But please DO NOT try and squint and look at the sun without the proper eye protection. Permanent retina damage can happen quickly. Good luck!

>> Seattle optometrist recalling unverified eclipse glasses sold at clinic

Hi Phoforlife, It will not be pitch black in the eclipse area but it will be dark enough overhead during the two minutes of total eclipse to possibly see other planets and stars! On the horizon, it will look like sunset or twilight. So, not pitch black but quite dark! The two minutes of totality will be the time of darkness with it getting lighter rapidly after. At this point, I don't know if Amazon has certified eclipse glasses in stock. If they do and you can get them, great. If not, I'd try calling around to local stores like Bartell, Fred Meyer, Walmart, Costco to see if they have any left. I'm hearing from folks that they're now extremely hard to come by. Good luck!

Hi hummicat, Unfortunately, absolutely not. Not only would you not be able to see any detail during the eclipse with regular glasses, thousands of times the safe amount of sunlight comes through regular sunglasses, even with polarization and through a window. Even dark sunglasses are as unsafe as looking directly at the eclipse with nothing at all. And, again, you wouldn't be able to see any detail so you risk eye injury too! Best of luck finding glasses. They're in short supply. Here's more information. https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety

Hi AbleDanger, Yes, it is harder. Simply, absolutely. The mountains (particularly the Olympics) make all the difference, creating microclimates and small scale features that aren't a factor in flat places like Kansas. Also, there aren't surface weather observation stations "upstream" over the Pacific Ocean so our computer forecast models are a little hampered. But I'd say the varied topography is the primary challenge, since conditions can be so different just a few miles apart. We're getting better, but there's still work to do developing the meteorology and technology. Lastly (can you tell this is a hot button question? haha), weather forecasts will NEVER be 100% perfect. Meteorology is a science that will always be improving but always evolving with new challenges and discoveries.

>> UV filters to photograph solar eclipse selling out in Western Wash., tips if you don't have one

My family says even from a very young age, I'd mimic the weatherman on TV. I worked in Texas at ABC station KLTV for about nine years, then a little more than three years at Fort Myers, FL station WBBH before coming to KIRO in 2011. We pretty much have the best equipment we can get at KIRO 7 but the multi-million (or billion) dollar government supercomputers that run our U.S. based forecast models could be improved/upgraded. That would make weather prediction more accurate. Unfortunately, the budget for these things are controlled by Congress and except for a spike in funding after Hurricane Sandy, it's been a tough go. The European Community runs forecast modeling as a consortium of EU countries, and since everyone's required to chip in, their European forecast model is -- in many ways -- superior to the U.S. modeling at present. Much more supercomputer power is necessary and we can really only get the megabucks needed for that from Congress.

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