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Solar Eclipse 2017: Jacksonville Residents Get Mostly Cloudy Show

Kelton Givens
Aaron Wilkins (l-r), Leslie Wilkins and Khristiana Achath gather on the roof of Intuition Ale Works for an eclipse viewing party.

Many Northeast Florida residents headed outside for a glimpse of Monday afternoon’s solar eclipse, but mostly-cloudy skies blocked much of the show.

In the Intracoastal Danforth neighborhood, Al Clawson was trying to focus the sun’s image through a homemade pinhole viewer, but it was too cloudy to see much. Still, he said, he was happy to see so many young people giving it a try.

Credit Melissa Ross / WJCT News
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WJCT News
Al Clawson uses a homemade pinhole viewer during the eclipse.

“I think it’s a good learning experience for children. They can get out and see it and maybe become interested in science and astronomy. It’s a good thing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mandarin High School student Amber Elphick wasn’t able to find special glasses in time for the eclipse, but a pizza shop owner let her and a friend look at celestial event through a piece of welder’s glass. She said she could see the sun as a yellowish color and the moon as a gray spot covering it up.

She said she’s glad she took advantage of an excused-absence for the special occasion, “especially since I’m old enough to experience it and I’m not like a kid and I won’t remember it.”

And in downtown Jacksonville, Janel Bacote took off the day from work at JEA to watch the eclipse on the roof of Intuition Ale Works, surrounded by a crowd of lots of different ages.

“Look at all the people that are out here. It’s bringing families, people, all kind of stuff together. And to be able to experience this, this is phenomenal,” she said.

The eclipse peaked in Jacksonville at around 2:45 p.m. Monday. Because Northeast Florida is not in the path of totality, the sky did not drastically darken. 

Melissa Ross, Michelle Corum and Kelton Givens contributed to this story. 

Jessica Palombo supervises local news gathering and production, podcasts and web editorial content for WJCT News, ADAPT and Jacksonville Today. She is an award-winning writer and journalist with bylines including NPR, Experience Magazine, and The Gainesville Sun. She has a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University and is an alumna of the University of Florida. A nearly lifelong resident of Jacksonville, she considers herself lucky to be raising her own children in her hometown. Follow Jessica Palombo on Twitter: @JaxJessicaP