The 2024 total solar eclipse might not have brought totality to Franklin as it did in 2017, but those who ventured out to see the sun nearly 85% covered got to see glimpses between the clouds on Monday, April 8.
The sun was out until around 2:35 p.m., when heavy clouds from the west rolled in, obscuring the sun and sending a wave of disappointment through the watchers gathered at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce and other locations around the county.
Brief breaks in the clouds allowed people to see the sun look like a sliver of the moon over the next half hour plus, through the maximum coverage time of 3:07 p.m., when it noticeably got darker. Employees at nearby restaurants and stores walked outside, with solar glasses over their eyes, to watch at various points. Shortly after, bigger clouds obscured the sun, and with no breaks in sight, folks called it a day.
Still, the couple dozen at the Chamber of Commerce who sat up chairs to watch got to see something they can tell future generations about.
Bonnie Phillips of Franklin called it “fantastic.” Mary Spivey, wearing a 2017 Eclipse shirt, said that she and her friends were all in their 80s, so it might be their last time seeing one.
Some of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce crowd were on hand in 2017 when Franklin was in the path of totality, bringing a mid-day darkness for a few minutes which thousands showed up for.
Some watchers who noted their older ages wondered aloud if they’d be around for the next one. The next solar eclipse in America will be in 20 years on Aug. 23, 2044, which will be seen in Western Canada, Montana and the Dakotas. The next time Franklin will see visible darkening from an eclipse will be the following year, Aug. 12, 2045, when the path of totality will go southeast from northern California through the middle of Florida, but North Carolina will not be in the path of totality. A total solar eclipse on May 11, 2078, will pass over the southern United States.