As the 2024 total solar eclipse is behind us, now if a great time to take time to reflect on the experience. Some of these items will make sense, but others are unique lessons that will surprise you.

The first thing that comes to mind is regarding trip planning: Book Early and plan for a fun trip regardless of the eclipse. Airlines in the US open their flight reservations 330 days ahead of time, so what you can do is book 329 days ahead of time as airlines might raise prices that initial day knowing people want to book right away. It might be cheaper on the 2nd day that it’s open. Nevertheless, when booking early does have its negatives for some items, such as Airbnb, where the owners could cancel the reservation and repost for an increased fee. So please double check and verify your reservations ahead of the trip.

Moreover, If you have the funds to be able to decide between multiple places and book refundable tickets, then do so. However, for those who don’t have the funds, choose the best option and have a fun trip regardless.

On social media, there was much discussion of the weather options and should they cancel or just stay put. That brings up the point: there’s no guarantee anywhere of the ability to view the eclipse. The eclipse is an experience of the actual eclipse itself and one of a fun trip!

What we learned is that there are many more weather websites than expected. We have a write up of the different websites here, but in summary, we didn’t realize how many different websites there were with varying features, user interfaces, and price points.

In the same vain as so many weather websites, there are so many different weather models, all with various differences. models can be wrong and one will be more correct, but all can be wrong and also partially right in varying degrees. With so much data and so many variables, it can be tough to get the forecast correct.

Finally, the importance of how far out in advance the models are accurate. It’s something that isn’t often thought of too much, but is crucial to note how far in advance the models can be accurate. The models get more accurate 10, 7, 5, and 3 days ahead of the desired dates.

If you want to know more about the 2044 solar eclipse, other 2044 national or state parks in eclipse totality to view, and other awesome space information, make sure to follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/cosmospnw, on Instagram at instagram.com/cosmospnw, and visit cosmospnw.com as we be posting more information shortly.