Mother nature made it difficult to view a partial solar eclipse in Northeast Ohio on Saturday, and many are crossing their fingers for clear weather on April 8, 2024.
The date will mark the first total solar eclipse visible in Ohio in more than two centuries. Total darkness when the moon passes in front of the sun will last nearly four minutes, but planning for the short event has been in progress for months.
“Once people started realizing what’s happening, and this truly is a once-in-my-lifetime event, the buzz started happening,” said Cindy Lindberg, owner of Grand River Cellars in Eastern Lake County.
The winery started its eclipse preparations nearly three years ago with the creation of a limited-edition ruby port. It will be called “Celestial” and feature a holographic label on a collectible bottle.
In addition to the specialty wine, Grand River Cellars will be one of 14 wineries to take part in the Total Eclipse Wine Trail on April 5, 6 and 7. Customers can sample beverages and eclipse-themed appetizers at participating locations before they take in the solar eclipse itself.
“We want them to have something to do, not just wait until Monday for the big event. We want to make sure they have things to do in the days leading up to that. We want them to come early. We want them to explore,” Lindberg explained.
The Grand River Valley wine region and much of Northeast Ohio will be in the path of totality, and expect the event to provide a tourism boost.
“With Ohio being within one day’s travel from 70% of the US population, if people see it’s going to be a good area to travel to, it’s going to be easy for them to get here,” explained Joe Brusher, the Director for the Lake County Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
The Ohio EMA says communities in the path of totality could see visitors double, triple or even quadruple their normal populations. Busher said Lake County law enforcement, EMS and other county leaders have been preparing for the crush of people since late 2022.
“The biggest concern, and the sheriff said it best, is traffic, traffic, traffic. And with traffic comes many other problems,” said Busher.
He explained the county is developing its incident action plan and will add more radio channels and likely activate a regional emergency operations center to manage any situations that may arise. He said schools are weighing whether to cancel classes on April 8 or turn the celestial event into an educational opportunity. Likewise, parks and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) are preparing for gatherings and increased visitors.
Lake County EMA is working with the Lake County Visitors to track the vacancy rates at hotels and campsites so it can gauge the number of people traveling for the eclipse. The agency has also worked with the National Weather Service to look at the weather on April 8 for the past decade, though Busher said the data confirms how dubious Northeast Ohio’s weather can be in the springtime.
“You can have everything from a mostly sunny day to a totally cloudy day, cold, warm. So that’s unpredictable,” he said.
The county’s message to residents is to have patience on April 8. It’s also encouraging visitors to come early and stay late for the total solar eclipse.
“It helps both the economy and the first responders plan for this,” Busher said.
Business owners echo the advice, hoping visitors coming for the eclipse also spend their money in the region.
“We’re hopeful they’re going to come, spread the word about this quaint little wine country that nobody knew about,” Lindberg said.
You can find out more about the eclipse and attractions in Lake County during the event by clicking here.
