Solar Eclipse Data from Previous Years

During the 1901 to 2000 time period, there were 228 solar eclipses across the globe. The solar eclipses by category were;

Solar Eclipses: 1901 - 2000

Eclipse Type	Number	Percent
All Eclipses	228	100.0%
Partial	78	34.2%
Annular “full”	73	32.0%
Total	71	31.1%
Hybrid	6	2.6%

A partial eclipse is when the moon’s penumbral shadow traverses the earth.

An annular eclipse is when the moon’s antumbral shadow traverses the earth. The moon appears smaller than the sun resulting in a thick ring of sunlight around the moon.

A total eclipse is when the moon’s umbral shadow traverses the earth.

A hybrid eclipse is when the moon’s umbral and antumbral shadows traverse the earth.

A total eclipse is only visible from within the moon’s umbral shadow.

An annular eclipse is only visible from within the moon’s antumbral shadow.

Solar eclipses can happen more than once per year. Below is the number of years when more than one solar eclipse (of all types) occurred;

Years with 2 eclipses: 79

Years with 3 eclipses: 15

Years with 4 eclipses: 5

Years with 5 eclipses: 1 (1935)

2 eclipses in the same month: July 2000

Extreme Durations and Magnitudes of Solar Eclipses: 1901 to 2000

Extrema Type	Date	Duration	Magnitude
Longest Annular Solar Eclipse	1955 Dec 14	12m 09s	-
Shortest Annular Solar Eclipse	1948 May 09	00m 00s	-
Longest Total Solar Eclipse	1955 Jun 20	07m 08s	-
Shortest Total Solar Eclipse	1968 Sep 22	00m 40s	-
Longest Hybrid Solar Eclipse	1909 Jun 17	00m 24s	-
Shortest Hybrid Solar Eclipse	1986 Oct 03	00m 00s	-
Largest Partial Solar Eclipse	1920 May 18	-	0.97341
Smallest Partial Solar Eclipse	1935 Jan 05	-	0.00126

Magnitude refers to the amount of the sun covered.

Below are the total solar eclipses since 1901 that resulted in a partial eclipse occurring across eastern Iowa, northwest and west central Illinois, and far northeast Missouri starting with the most recent total solar eclipse first. All times in the table below are in CST.

Note: Hourly weather observations slowly became more common in the 1920s and 1930s due to the growing demands of the aviation industry. However, the observing network was not as extensive as it is today. Whether or not an eclipse was viewable prior to 1940 is based mainly on the limited observations done at the following Weather Bureau offices; Davenport, Dubuque, and Keokuk.

Date	Burlington % coverage	Cedar Rapids % coverage	Dubuque % coverage	Iowa City % coverage	Quad Cities % coverage
08/21/2017	94.5	91.3	88.4	92.3	91.5
Time of max coverage (CST)	12:14 PM	12:12 PM	12:13 PM	12:13 PM	12:15 PM
Viewable based on weather	Yes	Barely	Barely	Barely	Barely
02/26/1979	80.2	83.2	83.4	82.4	81.2
Time of max coverage (CST)	10:46 AM	10:46 AM	10:48 AM	10:46 AM	10:47 AM
Viewable based on weather	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
07/10/1972	47.2	49.4	52.3	48.7	50.0
Time of max coverage (CST)	2:26 PM	2:23 PM	2:23 PM	2:23 PM	2:25 PM
Viewable based on weather	Likely	Maybe	Maybe	Maybe	Maybe
03/07/1970	59.9	56.3	57.2	57.2	59.6
Time of max coverage (CST)	12:19 PM	12:19 PM	12:21 PM	12:19 PM	12:20 PM
Viewable based on weather	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
07/20/1963	64.2	66.8	66.5	66.0	66.9
Time of max coverage (CST)	3:38 PM	3:35 PM	3:35 PM	3:36 PM	3:37 PM
Viewable based on weather	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
08/31/1932	66.4	67.2	69.9	66.9	68.6
Time of max coverage (CST)	2:19 PM	2:16 PM	2:16 PM	2:17 PM	2:19 PM
Viewable based on weather	Yes	Maybe	Maybe	Maybe	Briefly
01/24/1925	87.9	90.2	92.4	89.6	90.1
Time of max coverage (CST)	7:54 AM	7:55 AM	7:56 AM	7:55 AM	7:55 AM
Viewable based on weather	No	No	No	No	No
09/10/1923	47.0	45.2	43.2	45.7	45.0
Time of max coverage (CST)	3:24 PM	3:22 PM	3:22 PM	3:22 PM	3:24 PM
Viewable based on weather	Likely	Likely	Yes	Likely	Yes
06/08/1918	80.5	78.2	75.6	78.8	77.9
Time of max coverage (CST)	5:27 PM	5:25 PM	5:24 PM	5:25 PM	5:26 PM
Viewable based on weather	Likely	Likely	Maybe	Likely	Yes
02/03/1916	13.6	12.4	12.3	12.7	13.2
Time of max coverage (CST)	9:51 AM	9:51 AM	9:54 AM	9:51 AM	9:53 AM
Viewable based on weather	Maybe	Maybe	Maybe	Maybe	Yes

Below is how the 1979 and 1963 solar eclipses affected hourly temperatures;

Time (CST) 02/26/1979	Burlington, IA (˚F)	Cedar Rapids, IA (˚F)	Dubuque, IA (˚F)	Moline, IL (˚F)
9 AM	20	16	16	21
10 AM	25	22	19	23
11 AM	24	20	18	23
12 PM	27	23	21	24

Time (CST) 07/20/1963	Burlington, IA (˚F)	Cedar Rapids, IA (˚F)	Dubuque, IA (˚F)	Moline, IL (˚F)
2 PM	83	82	81	84
3 PM	83	83	81	84
4 PM	81	80	79	81
5 PM	83	82	80	82

Note: Hourly observations for Iowa City did not commence until March 1, 1995.

Compared to the 1963 total solar eclipse, the upcoming total solar eclipse for 2017 will have a larger amount of the sun partially covered (91.6% on average compared to 66.1%). Weather conditions are the unknown variable. If skies are sunny or mostly sunny, temperatures may drop 3 to 6 degrees during the maximum eclipse coverage. If skies are cloudy, the temperature drop may only be 1 to 3 degrees.

The next total solar eclipse that will partially cover the sun in eastern Iowa, northwest and west central Illinois, and far northeast Missouri will occur on April 8, 2024.