A light rain system will be passing through the Bay Area late Thursday and into early Friday morning — and cloud cover all but guarantees that tonight's lunar eclipse will not be visible in most of our region.
You may have to drive quite a ways inland if you want to see Thursday night's historic lunar eclipse — which is the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years, set to last over 3 hours and 28 minutes. The National Weather Service predicts the cloud will remain thick over all of the Bay Area, except maybe part of Livermore and points east of there.
Wondering if you'll have clear sky Thurs night to view the partial lunar eclipse? Unfortunately, chances won't be good around the Bay Area with a front approaching from the north. Here's a look at forecast cloud cover during first half of the lunar eclipse. #cawx #LunarEclipse pic.twitter.com/77K5sv0vYd
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) November 18, 2021
It isn't a total lunar eclipse, and therefore won't be "quite as spectacular," as NASA says, but still 99.1% of the moon will be passing into the Earth's shadow.
With the clouds, the weather service says that light rain is expected tonight and into Friday morning, starting in the North Bay — with some parts of Sonoma County likely to see almost one-tenth of an inch. Meteorologist Roger Gass tells the Chronicle that the weather service is "not expecting significant amount of rainfall" anywhere, with San Francisco maybe seeing 0.02 inches.
According to The Weather Channel, that rain is likely coming to the city around 5 a.m. and will be over by 7 a.m. So, this could impact morning commutes, if people are still doing those.
But then by Saturday things warm up a bit, maybe for the last time this year? The weekend will be sunny, with temperatures potentially in the lower 70s by Sunday. The Weather Channel puts the average high for SF at 65 on Sunday, so the Mission and Potrero will probably see 70s.
Photo courtesy of PG&E/AlertWildfire
