Even though Arizona is known for sun, this particular time of year is among the worst to guarantee a sunny day as we are smack dab in the middle of the monsoon season.
We went out at about 9 to test out our glasses. It was mostly sunny. I went back out just as it was starting and saw it begin. Chris came out with me a bit later and a big, fat monsoon cloud rolled in, covering the sun:
We have actually seen an eclipse in Arizona before, a lunar one that we weren’t expecting at all in Scottsdale in 2015 when we were traveling. We also got our eclipse glasses when traveling. We were unexpectedly given them for free in Albuquerque at a temporary exhibit about the sun.
The clouds kept us from getting any convincing photos, but our glasses from New Mexico worked like a treat. They actually allowed us to see through a thin cloud layer, so we were able to properly see during the best time when it was about 60% cover despite the clouds hanging around.
We had a walk around outside and shared our glasses with a few people, including the girls who work at the leasing office. At least one of them had never seen an eclipse before, so I’m glad we were able to share it with them:
Here are our best attempts at photographing the eclipse:
Here’s the video: