Belizeans Join Region in Anticipation of Solar Eclipse

Belizeans joined with others from all over the region today, in anticipation of the solar eclipse, which occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun. While parts of Mexico and the rest of North America experienced a total solar eclipse, portions of Belize only experienced a partial darkening of the skies. Many schools and even some government offices took time this afternoon to see if they could catch a glimpse of the eclipse while wearing protective eyewear to block out harmful radiation. Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon spoke on the eclipse saying that the skies were not nearly as dark as they were during the October 2023 eclipse. He added that the view might have been disappointing to some, depending on where they were, due to cloud coverage.

Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist: “My own observation and I certainly don’t have the specialized equipment to go out there and look at the sun so I did not do that but I want to say that from my own observation it got a bit darker I think. It wasn’t that significant as we had mentioned I believe before that it was a 40% occlusion for this particular eclipse, it’s a partial eclipse so we didn’t expect it to even be as dark as the one we had in October last year which had more obstruction or occlusion. So certainly it wasn’t as dark as that one and I think unfortunately for residents in my area, I don’t know about where the entire country but certainly in Belize City it was a bit cloudy so certainly if you had the specialized sun glasses to go out there and look at it it may have been a bit disappointing because for the most part it was a bit cloudy. So that’s what I would say. I haven’t heard the comments coming from different persons but certainly that’s what I saw personally.”

The last total solar eclipse in North America was in 2017. The next is expected to occur in 2033