A Small Ohio City is a Perfect Spot to View the Eclipse

Many Ohioans are excited for the Great Northern Eclipse that will cross most of the state. The total solar eclipse will, of course, occur on Monday, April 8 in the mid-afternoon.

Most viewers won't have to go far, as the path of the total eclipse will be best viewed from West Ohio through North Central Ohio and Northeast Ohio north of Youngstown. The lower border of preferred viewing draws a line just north of Cincinnati, Columbus and Youngstown and stretches north to just west of Toledo. That covers a huge chunk of Ohio with most of the population having a great opportunity to see the total eclipse.

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Of course, Ohioans living outside of the path will still get somewhere between the higher end of 99% and 75% coverage of the sun for a shorter period of time, so it's still an exciting event nonetheless.

Most know that Cleveland will be a prime location for viewing the eclipse. The eclipse will start at 1:59 p.m. and last until 4:29 with the maximum total eclipse happening at 3:15 p.m. and lasting nearly 3 minutes 49 seconds. More than 2 million people in the Cleveland metropolitan area will enjoy some of the best views the eclipse has to offer.

However, there is one small Ohio city that has slightly more advantageous viewing than all of Cleveland. According to Astronomy.com, which ranked the top 20 best places to see the Great Northern Eclipse, Lima, Ohio, is the best place in the state to witness the eclipse.

For Lima, the eclipse starts a bit early, seeing that the city is well west of Cleveland close to the western state line. The eclipse will start at 1:54:51 p.m. and last until 4:26 p.m. The maximum eclipse will begin at 3:11:43 p.m. and last 3 minutes 51 seconds.

For those that want to get as close to four minutes as possible, driving south on Interstate 75 toward Wapakoneta toward the center line can net nearly seven extra seconds of total eclipse time. The four-minute totality ends just before the Indiana state line and Lima is the most heavily populated area nearest the eclipse path's center line.

According to the Astronomy.com rankings, Lima is the No. 13 best place overall to view the Great Northern Eclipse. Cleveland was ranked No. 14. The top three options are all in Mexico followed by five Texas locations. For the entire rankings, click here. To track the the eclipse's path, and potentially find great viewing spots between Lima and Cleveland, check out NASA's official page.