Google Maps on iOS (and presumably other platforms) has an “offline map” feature that lets you download entire maps for rather large areas for offline use. GPS will continue to function with the offline maps. No cell tower needed for that.
Are there any predictions of eclipse-related airline/airport delays in the Southeast? I’ll be flying out from San Diego about 12:30pm on Saturday, with that stopover at ATL which I already mentioned. My final destination is Charleston SC.
Are you aware that the totality zone is about 75 miles wide?
I printed totality maps off the NASA website, and I don’t use GPS anyway. Last night, I got out an old, battered road atlas and marked the totality zones over a wide swath; where I end up going depends, like I said earlier, on the weather forecast.
Sure, as long as you plan for it.
We’ve waited almost 40 years for a total eclipse in the contiguous USA … but the next after this is in 2024 … and that one will be better (longer duration) … do put it on your bucket list …
Phaw … too soon to tell … Oregon weather forecasts don’t have any reliability over 72 hours out … so check on Friday morning for anything even closely resembling accuracy … that said, the NWS is expecting a long wave ridge on Monday, but timing is still uncertain … but we knew years ago that Western Oregon most certainly could have cloudy mornings on any given Aug 21st … yeesh … this morning was definitely Fall weather in every way … 43ºF here on the Swale …
I was going to mention this (which I’ll be doing). The problem is that these maps take up a lot of space which your phone might not have. It’s best if you save the data on the phone’s real external storage,. For some versions of Android* that might require rooting to map the fake external (really internal) storage to the actual microSD card.
- The multi-version issues with stuff like this also makes Googling the how-tos difficult at times.
Yes I am. I’m also aware that the duration of totality is a steep bell-shaped curve based on how close to the centerline you are. At the outer limits of the 75 miles you’ll have a couple seconds of totality. At the center you’ll have a couple of minutes. *Big *difference.
The vast majority of the other umpteen million people driving to see this thing know that too. The few miles of the few roads closest to the eclipse centerline will be THE place the vast majority of those folks want to be. And once that small area on any given road / highway clots, you’ll simply have the clog growing in both directions from there.
As to the various comments about cell service, downloadable maps, etc.
Many of the various map apps have downloadable offline maps as folks have said. But … which maps do not have the eclipse path included.
Certainly people can plan ahead and download jpgs or whatever of the area they hope to get to with the path already superimposed. But once things start to clog up and folks decide they need to replan where they’re going many of them will struggle.
Gonna be fun to watch that show. I’ll have to settle for 80% here at home.
The well has already run dry.
Confirmed reports gas stations in parts of Oregon are out of fuel. No guarantees that stations will be refilled anytime soon. I’m hearing this via wildland fire fighters (who have their own fuel supply on fires but may not have fuel if their tours are up and being rotated back to home base).
Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about the traffic. My house in SC is on Lake Marion, and just about 4 miles north of the center of the path of totality.
*** Damn… That is rubbing it in to some folk, sorry bout that.
And I just checked the 2024 map, and it turns out that Cleveland is in the path for that one. I was thinking that I needed to start making my plans for that one as soon as this one is over… OK, done.
Still remains to be seen, but preliminary results are indicating issues. As Duckster said, there are already some gas shortages in central and eastern Oregon. Yesterday, roads to Prineville were completely jammed with early arrivals to a festival that starts today. This festival is expected to attract 30,000 people over its five days. The town of Madras alone (pop 6500) expects 100K, and is along the same roads as Prineville.
Folks running out of fuel or breaking down are a problem in any mass movement of vehicles. We deal with this every time there’s a hurricane threat.
It only takes one car crapping out every 5 miles to slow a multi-lane freeway from 80 mph to a crawl. And once everybody is crawling, folks get impatient, do dumb maneuvers on the shoulder and collide, or start overheating. Which creates more blockages. Gas mileage truly sucks in traffic jams, so pretty soon people discover their range wasn’t what they thought it was.
Bottom line, this is an exponential feedback process. The fact we’ve seen only the smallest hints of widely dispersed issues so far is par for the course. But it also has very little predictive power for the end game.
Sorry, late add:
The final factor is that the quality of any given eclipse viewers’ preparation is probably proportional to how early they get there. All the thoughtful folks with well-founded self-sufficient resilient plans are moving into place now or are already there.
But consider all the folks who first learn about it this weekend or who’ve been thinking “meh”, but wake up Monday with a newfound resolve to drive the e.g. 180 miles = they think 3 hours to totality. All those utterly unprepared folks will come surging out towards ruralia with fairly predictable outcomes. The “low-information driver” works about as well as the “low information voter”. And they’re equally decisive in their millions. Quantity has a quality all its own.
It absolutely is true. It’s a surreal, beautiful experience when you see that blazing corona in the sky. You only get that with 100% totality. It really is a “holy shit!” Moment.
You might be giving the people involved in the traffic jam yesterday too much credit. The Symbiosis Festival attracts the type of people who might be a little more care-free and non-planning. 
I think this is a good indication of what to expect. Oregon roads are not built for the volume that is already happening. As you say, it doesn’t take many incidents for traffic to clog completely.
And for those thinking they’ll take the back roads: that doesn’t always work out so well in Oregon. Google Maps and Waze are wildly inaccurate with BLM roads, even if you remember to download the maps before you’re out of range or cell service is overwhelmed. And with a two- or one-lane road, all it takes is one incident to halt traffic completely.
Many of the BLM and other private roads are already closed due to the very real fire danger. Every single one in my area is already closed and “no camping” signs have been posted for several days.
I checked this morning to see if the Amtrak Coast Starlight train would be be a way to sneak into central Oregon from CA. No dice - all the trains are sold-out. Probably have been for a while.
Just got off the phone with folks on fires in Oregon. Central Oregon eclipse viewing does not look good. The major Whitewater Fire on Mt. Jefferson (smack dab in the middle of totality) is burning hot and heavy throwing up smoke. That alone should blanket much of the prime viewing across much of Central Oregon. When you add up other fires north, south and east, totality should be much darker than anticipated. They have closed roads all over the place because of fire, potential fire, and just because.
Only time will tell if the weather changes by Monday.
My hotel reservations are in Summerville but I can stop by the Lake for the eclipse. 