There are eight days left until the total solar eclipse in the DFW area, and cities across the Metroplex have been planning to see huge crowds and big increases in tourism revenue from eclipse travelers.
However, the latest forecast shows that April 8 might not bring the best conditions to see this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Despite the potentially cloudy outlook, officials and businesses in Dallas say they’re looking forward to a successful day.
Sunday brought another busy afternoon to Klyde Warren Park in Dallas.
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City tourism leaders say downtown has looked this way for the last few days as the buzz around the impending eclipse has reached a fever pitch.
“Right now, we’re tracking about 35% more for business than we would normally have at this time in previous years,” said Craig Davis, President/CEO of Visit Dallas.
On April 8, Dallas will be the largest city in the country to experience a total blackout from the solar eclipse.
Experts say eclipse tourism could bring a more than 40% boost to business in the city that week.
But the most recent forecasts from NBC5’s weather experts have projected a partly cloudy and potentially rainy day on April 8.
Tourism leaders in Dallas told NBC 5 that hotels hadn’t seen widespread instances of people canceling their plans because of the forecast.
And because of the strong business impact they’re already seeing here, they were still feeling optimistic.
“They say that you can’t change the weather, but knowing that a full eclipse will darken the entire skies, it will be an experience here, in the middle of the day it will be completely dark,” said Davis. “So people will be able to experience that.”
At HG Supply Co. in Dallas’s Greenville neighborhood, their rooftop has been taking bookings for April 8 for weeks, with at least 250 people expected to take in totality there.
“So we have a DJ event, and we’ll have some catering food for the evening, so we do have plans,” said Phillip Lee, the restaurant's assistant GM.
Restaurant employees said they hadn’t seen any cancellations for weather and that rain or shine, they planned to move forward with plans for their watch party.
“We’ll still have a beautiful rooftop and we’ll still have three to four minutes of complete darkness, so it’ll still kind of show for something,” Lee said. “But I don’t think it’ll kill the event.”
NBC 5’s weather experts will track conditions for the day of the eclipse all week to help you enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime event.
