TEXARKANA -- It is still too early to accurately predict the weather for April 8, the day of the total solar eclipse, an expert said Thursday.
April is known for its spring showers and cloudy skies, bringing in unpredictable weather. Many eclipse chasers are ready to quickly change their plans and move to watch the phenomenon under clear skies. But 11 days ahead of time, attempting to predict the weather for April 8 is futile, National Weather Service Senior Meteorologist Jason Hamsfred said.
"Right now, we don't have confidence in our weather models going out that far to predict the cloud cover for the eclipse," he said.
People will have to wait a few more days until the weather picture is at all clear.
"Once it falls within that seven-day time frame, let's say from this Monday onward, we might have a little better handle on what the clouds may do," Hamsfred said. "I know there's a lot of information circling social media right now about cloud cover, but those models don't do a very good job with cloud cover."
Even a week out, there will be uncertainty.
"The closer to the event we are, the higher confidence we have in a cloud cover forecast," Hamsfred said. "But to predict this far out is extremely low, and we would rather not comment. You just can't trust what the computer models are spitting out this far in advance."