North America’s solar eclipse timeline on Wednesday gives St. Johns the strongest view listed, with 53% of the sun covered if skies are clear. The partial eclipse will be visible in parts of North America, but the experience varies sharply by city and lasts only a short window.
Anchorage begins at 7:36 a.m. and peaks at 8:21 a.m., with 28% coverage. St. Johns starts much later, at 2:28 p.m., and reaches its peak at 3:35 p.m. That makes the timing as important as the percentage for anyone trying to catch it.
Anchorage to Washington, D.C.
The eclipse reaches several U.S. cities with small to modest coverage. Bangor, Maine will see 24% coverage from 12:54 p.m. to 2:49 p.m., peaking at 1:53 p.m. Detroit will see 3% coverage from 1:03 p.m. to 2:08 p.m., with a peak at 1:36 p.m.
New York City is listed at 9% coverage from 1:07 p.m. to 2:38 p.m., peaking at 1:54 p.m. Philadelphia will see 7% coverage from 1:11 p.m. to 2:35 p.m., also peaking at 1:53 p.m. Washington, D.C. will see 4% coverage from 1:17 p.m. to 2:27 p.m., peaking at 1:53 p.m.
Canada’s stronger views
Canadian cities on the list get some of the clearest partial views in North America. Montreal will see 18% coverage from 12:50 p.m. to 2:38 p.m., peaking at 1:45 p.m. Toronto will see 8% coverage from 12:55 p.m. to 2:23 p.m., peaking at 1:40 p.m. Winnipeg is listed at 5% coverage from 11:25 a.m. to 12:40 p.m., peaking at 12:02 p.m.
St. Johns stands apart at 53%, the highest figure in the list. For readers there, the eclipse is not a brief edge-of-the-sun event; it is a much larger partial covering that lasts from 2:28 p.m. until 4:37 p.m.
North America and Europe
The broader pattern is split. North America gets only a partial eclipse, while totality begins near the North Pole and moves south across Greenland, Iceland, Spain and a patch of Portugal. Continental Europe’s first encounter with totality since 1999 is expected during this eclipse.
That leaves North America with a shorter, weaker view even after two recent eclipse landmarks in the U.S.: the Great American Eclipse of 2017 and the 2024 eclipse. America’s next coast-to-coast total solar eclipse is not until 2045, so Wednesday is a partial event for most readers and a brief one for everyone outside the strongest viewing band.
For anyone planning to watch, the practical move is simple: check the listed local peak time, because the best moment is measured in minutes, not hours. Outside the named cities, the partial eclipse remains mapped only in broad terms across North America, so the exact view depends on where the sky is clear.
