Traffic starts to pick up at 3:48 p.m. Monday outside Wapakoneta at the intersection of U.S. 33 and Interstate 75.
Photo courtesy of Ohio Department of Transportation
LIMA — The moon lived up to its end of the bargain. Now it’s up to drivers leaving the solar eclipse’s path of totality to behave too.
Nature treated the region to a spectacular total solar eclipse, with clouds staying away as the moon passed between the sun and the people on the planet. Once the moon blocked the sunlight, people could enjoy a beautiful bright light, including solar flares beaming out from the edges of the sun.
Readers and visitors alike are invited to share their pictures of the solar eclipse and the surrounding festivities via our site or by emailing [email protected].
Traffic has picked up as people leave the area, based on traffic cameras from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s OHGO.com. Still, traffic moved along well as of 3:40 p.m. See more images from the cameras at limaohio.com/odot-cameras.
The Allen County Sheriff’s Office and Allen County Emergency Management Agency set up an Emergency Operations Center. It closed at 4:15 p.m., noting that traffic was normal, and there was nothing further to report.
Area officials are cautiously optimistic that the influx of visitors in the region would be able to leave without any major tie-ups.
More than 200 people watched the eclipse at ArtSpace/Lima’s Total Solar Eclipse viewing party atop the downtown Lima parking garage. They responded with joy and awe, cheering just as the moon appeared to block the sun. One man yelled, “Here we go!” Others described the sight as “fantastic.” Once the sky began to return to normal, the speakers blared Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
Temperatures dropped several degrees as the sky turned gray before the total solar eclipse.
There were 3 minutes, 27 seconds of totality darkness starting at 3:09:57 in Lima before the moon moved out of the way at 3:13:47 p.m., bringing temperatures back into the very comfortable 70-degree range.
Area roadways were mostly clear about an hour before a total solar eclipse darkens the region.
They’re unlikely to stay that way when it starts to brighten up after 3:13 p.m. though.
The Allen County Sheriff’s Office reported no major traffic issues as of 3:30 p.m.
Parking lots were already packed in Wapakoneta, birthplace of Neil Armstrong, as of 9 a.m. Monday. There were several events scheduled in that city today to commemorate the eclipse.
Lots filled up in many public parks in the area, as people looked for unobstructed views of the afternoon sun.
Bluelick Road will be closed Monday and Tuesday between Sugar Street and Berryhill Road, while Bowman Road will be closed today from Harding Highway to state Route 117.
Video from Greenville, Ohio, courtesy of Ryan Berry of the Greenville Daily Advocate
