The next total solar eclipse crossing North America takes place on April 8, 2024. A few towns in Southern Illinois were within the path of totality in 2017 and will be again this year.
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00:00 Remember to use your glasses again.
00:03 Carbondale, IL has been nicknamed the solar eclipse capital of America.
00:08 It's one of the few towns that experienced the solar eclipse in 2017 and will again on April 8th.
00:15 After seeing the last one, residents like William Spearman have waited 7 years for this moment.
00:20 It was amazing. The fact that it's happening and this is so rare twice and this is one of the best places to view it is just amazing to me.
00:28 It's mind boggling, not once but twice.
00:31 Over at Mary Lou's Grill...
00:33 We're normally closed on Mondays but due to the eclipse we decided to open up.
00:38 Marilyn Martin, who owns the restaurant, created these shirts marking the two occasions.
00:43 You know it puts Carbondale on the map, southern Illinois on the map, so we're always happy about that.
00:48 Some of the biggest preparations are happening at Southern Illinois University.
00:52 After tickets to watch the 2017 solar eclipse at the school stadium sold out, more spaces on campus were identified for the upcoming eclipse.
01:01 It's really exciting and the next one totality lasts for double the amount of time, about 4 minutes and 8 seconds on campus.
01:08 We might just get lucky here.
01:10 Robert Baer says in 2017 the weather shifted right as the solar eclipse passed over campus.
01:17 This big cloud parked right over the stadium and stayed there for about 2 minutes.
01:22 So it was really exciting, it actually added a lot of drama to the event and a lot of excitement.
01:26 People were cheering for the cloud to go away.
01:28 Baer says it's given him even more to look forward to this time around.
01:32 It was kind of a blessing to get those clouds I think, you know, and to some people at least.
01:37 Reporting in Illinois for AccuWeather, I'm Emmy Victor.
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