Viewing conditions look good for Monday’s partial solar eclipse across the Charleston area. It’ll be a warmer than the past few days, too. Expect to start the day in the upper 40s before warming to the mid-70s in the afternoon. The eclipse starts just before 2 PM, peaks around 3:10 PM with about 70% of the sun obscured by the new moon, and ends just before 4:30 PM. You’ll need eclipse glasses to experience this one — don’t look directly into the sun! If you don’t have your eclipse glasses from 2017, you can use a pasta strainer to project the shadow of the eclipse down onto another surface; the shadows will have a curved look, especially as we head toward peak eclipse.

Heading into Tuesday and Wednesday, cloud cover will begin to increase as high pressure gives way to a trough. We’ll continue to warm up, though, with upper 70s expected Tuesday and low 80s likely Wednesday. The trough will drive a front through the area Thursday into Friday, with the best chance for showers and thunderstorms arriving Thursday afternoon into the evening. A strong to severe storm or two can’t be totally discounted, so we’ll be keeping an eye on that threat throughout the week.

Showers diminish Friday morning, setting up a beautiful — and warmer — weekend of weather. Expect temperatures to run generally in the upper 70s to low 80s each day with copious sunshine and very few clouds.

Coastal flood risk with evening high tides this week

The new moon and favorable winds will drive the evening high tides into flood stage starting Monday evening and lasting through at least Wednesday. Fortunately, these tides will arrive during off-peak times, but if you’ve got plans later in the evenings downtown this week, be on the lookout for Coastal Flood Advisories from the National Weather Service.

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