What Time Is the Solar Eclipse in Dallas and Other Popular Texas Spots?

When we spoke to Dr. Ohad Shemmer, a veteran eclipse chaser and associate professor in the physics department at the University of North Texas, he offered solid advice for Texans who want to catch the rare total eclipse that's due to cross Texas during the afternoon of April 8. Chief among his advice: Have more than one potential viewing site in mind and be prepared to head out to one of your backup locations in the event of cloud cover.

Unfortunately, it's still too early to get a reliable forecast of the weather over Dallas on April 8. The Old Farmers Almanac, which one could argue is to meteorology what your favorite astrology column is to astronomy, says April 1–9 in Texas and Oklahoma will see "isolated t-storms, then sunny; turning warm."

That's not exactly helpful, though, considering the size of the area and the length of time. It's actually pretty accurate in a no-shit, Sherlock sort of way. Isolated storms, some sun and warm somewhere in Texas and Oklahoma? You don't exactly need the wisdom of an old farmer to guess that.

Meanwhile, Ted Ryan, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, told The Dallas Morning News that using weather records and general information about seasonal patterns to predict whether a particular day will be sunny is “a fool’s errand.”

That's certainly more scientific, but also not helpful.

While the weather is unknown, the amount of time that locations along the eclipse's path see totality — the period when the moon completely blocks the sun — varies. So, following Shemmer's advice, a good plan for viewing would be to pick places that have the longest periods of totality and hope that if there is cloud cover, it will break long enough to give viewers a good peek at the rare phenomenon. With that in mind, here are some locations along the path in Texas with some of the longer periods in totality. (Locations outside the path of totality can still see a partial eclipse, and even those in the path will observe the moon beginning to partially obscure the sun well before totality arrives.)

To find out when the eclipse will take place in your location, check out this searchable eclipse map from the National Weather Service.

When To See Total Eclipse Near Dallas

Downtown Dallas
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:23:40 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:40:47 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:42:42 p.m.
End of Total: 1:44:38 p.m.
End of Partial: 3:02:40 p.m.

Mesquite
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:23:50 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:40:54 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:42:58 p.m.
End of Total: 1:45:01 p.m.
End of Partial: 3:03:00 p.m.

Plano
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:24:10 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:41:30 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:43:08 p.m.
End of Total: 1:44:47 p.m.
End of Partial: 3:03:00 p.m.

Waxahachie
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:22:50 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:39:50 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:41:59 p.m.
End of Total: 1:44:08 p.m.
End of Partial: 3:02:10 p.m.

Hillsboro
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:21:40 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:38:44 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:40:56 p.m.
End of Total: 1:43:08 p.m.
End of Partial: 3:01:20 p.m.

Garland
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:24:00 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:41:11 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:43:06 p.m.
End of Total: 1:45:01 p.m.
End of Partial: 3:03:00 p.m.

Fort Worth
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:22:40 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:40:34 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:41:46 p.m.
End of Total: 1:42:58 p.m.

McKinney
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:24:30 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:42:01 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:43:32 p.m.
End of Total: 1:45:02 p.m.
End of Partial: 3:03:20 p.m.

Greenville
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:25:10 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:42:12 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:44:16 p.m.
End of Total: 1:46:21 p.m.
End of Partial: 3:04:00 p.m.

The Texas Hill Country

The path of the eclipse cuts through the heart of the Hill Country, and as it's farther to the southwest where conditions tend to be drier, the weekend before the eclipse might be a good time to schedule a road trip to visit the region's vineyards and caves or just check out the lovely, rolling, wooded hills. Some likely spots:

Fredericksburg
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:15:50 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:32:57 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:35:08 p.m.
End of Total: 1:37:20 p.m.
End of Partial: 2:56:10 p.m.

Kerrville
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:15:00 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:32:07 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:34:19 p.m.
End of Total: 1:36:31 p.m.
End of Partial: 2:55:30 p.m.

Lampasas
Start of the Partial Eclipse: 12:18:20 p.m.
Start of the Total Eclipse: 1:35:25 p.m.
Midpoint of Totality: 1:37:38 p.m.
End of Total: 1:39:51 p.m.
End of Partial: 2:58:20 p.m.