The longest partial lunar eclipse since 1440 will occur Thursday night into early Friday according to NASA. If weather conditions are right, the moon will appear red around 1 in the morning, but not full. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the earth’s shadow. The eclipse will begin around 10pm Thursday, reaching it’s peak at 1am, and finishing up by 4am. A solar eclipse looks like a ring of fire and happens when the moon passes in between the earth and sun, leaving a shadow on the earth. The eclipse tonight will be a lunar eclipse, and will last over three hours. Nearly 97 percent of the moon will be covered by the earth’s shadow, making it a partial eclipse. The darkest part of the earth's shadow is called the umbra. When all of the moon falls within the umbra, a total eclipse will occur. It will be very close tonight, but not quite total.
According to NASA, there are a couple reasons why Thursday night’s eclipse will be so long. The first reason deals with the distance the earth is from the moon and the second is how close to totality the eclipse will be. The closer the earth is to the moon, the faster the moon can move around it. The moon is nearing its farthest point away from the earth, so it is moving quite slowly.
Unfortunately, you need clear skies to see the eclipse, and more cloud cover is expected to move in tonight. Skies will be mostly cloudy to party cloudy in Reno, but not overcast. Carson City will have a slightly better viewing with less cloud cover. More cloud cover is expected north of I80. A weak system will move through northern California and Nevada late Thursday into Friday morning. This system will bring some gusty winds to the Sierra as well as some light snow to elevations above 7500’. Snow totals will be an inch or less, but it only takes a dusting to make roadways slick. There will be a lot of shadowing, so not expecting much rain in the valley with this system, but a stray shower can’t be ruled out in the afternoon. Highs on Friday will be in the upper 50’s with a slight breeze. A ridge of high pressure will build in this weekend keeping us dry. Some of the models are hinting at a system moving through late Tuesday, but nothing major at this point. Have a good weekend.
