Temperatures During a 1932 Eclipse in Lexington

On August 31, 1932 a total solar eclipse took place with the path of totality stretching across the Arctic Ocean, eastern Canada, and the North Atlantic. Although Lexington was many miles away from that path, the sun was still 74% obscured at the height of the eclipse in the Blue Grass. Maximum solar obscuration at Lexington took place right about when the maximum temperature of the day normally occurs in mid-afternoon. Observers at the Lexington Weather Bureau office took careful weather observations every 15 minutes for a span of five hours before, during, and after the eclipse. Of particular interest is the temperature readings, which took a 2.7° dip during the 30 minutes leading to maximum obscuration, and then a 2.6° recovery in the 75 minutes following. The graph below shows the temperature in red with the beginning and ending of the eclipse as dashed blue lines and maximum eclipse at the solid black line.

Below is a screen shot of the actual observations. In short, it was a very hot and humid day with mostly sunny skies and very little wind. The day's low temperature of 81° still stands as the warmest daily low temperature ever recorded in Lexington in August. The form also makes mention of a "nephoscsope" which is an instrument that is used to determine the elevation and motion of clouds.