Its here! Many astronomers have waited for this moment. Today there will be a total eclipse of the sun over a wide swath across the U.S. Well have a pretty good show here in Hampton Roads. About 80-90% of the sun will be blocked out in our region. Solets talk about it.

The event will start up around 1:20pm in the afternoon, it will peak around 2:45pm, and it will end a little after 4pm. Here are some specific times for different cities in the viewing area:

Norfolk will have about 86% of the sun blocked out by the moon.

The weather forecast looks pretty good for the region. We have high pressure just off to our northeast today. There is a stationary front to our south.

So well have partly sunny skies in the region. A stray shower may pop up in the region this afternoon. Id say theres only a 5-10% chance for a shower. Possibly a little better chance (10-20%) between Richmond, Gloucester, and Reedville. It will be pretty hot and humid though. Pretty standard weather for August. High temps will be near 90 with low-mid 90s inland. Dew points are in the low 70s. So the heat index will be in the mid 90s up to near 100 today. Keep that in mind if you are out for a while. Stay well hydrated. Also, be sure to put on plenty of sunscreen. (Yes youll still need it if you are out for a long period of time).

Be sure to wear the approved glasses to view the eclipse. You can also wear welders goggles. If you cant get the glasses, then you can still easily see the show. You can simply take a piece of cardboard. Poke a small hole in it. Then project the light onto the ground. You will have to move the cardboard up or down to focus the light. You can do this on a sheet or a large piece of paper. You can also use binoculars or a telescope. Just dont look through the eyepiece. Also, be careful as the light could get very hot as it gets focused. Pets can also harm their eyes if they look at the eclipse. The odds of them looking at the sun are low, but you can play it safe and keep them indoors. Make sure the kids know that they cant look at the eclipse without eye protection. Normal sunglasses will not work. Here are some other tidbits: Traffic may be rough if you are planning on traveling. A lot of folks might be on the road. Especially on the interstates. Plus, a lot of people will be uploading their images to the web. Lots of folks will be doing Facebook live. So internet connections may slow down for a brief time. Finally, some animals may behave differently. They may have some unusual behavior. Stay safe and have fun!

Tomorrow well heat up a little more. High temps will be in the low/mid 90s. The heat index will be near 100. Well have partly cloudy skies with a couple of isolated showers possible. There will be a better chance for rain Wednesday into early Thursday as a cold front moves into the region. Then well cool down and dry out going into the weekend. Highs will basically be near 80 Thursday through Sunday. The forecast looks dry next weekend for now.

In the tropicstropical storm Harvey fell apart this last weekend. However, the remnants are pushing towards the Yucatan Peninsula. It could re-develop over the Bay of Campeche in a day or two.

There is also a weak disturbance northwest of Puerto Rico. This is moving off to the west/northwest. It has a low-medium chance for development over the next 2-4 days. Well watch that one carefully, as it will be tracking over some very warm water. Though it does have to contend with a fair amount of wind shear. Stay tuned for updates!

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

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Blog: Eclipse.Today's The Day! - WAVY-TV (blog)