A partial solar eclipse will pass over Erie on Saturday, October 14th, in the early afternoon.

While rain and clouds are expected, astronomers are still encouraging people to look for the eclipse. 

"So the eclipse here locally starts at about 11:50 and then is completed around 2:30," said Darren Williams, Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at Penn State Behrend.

"So it's early afternoon and the 30% coverage happens at around 1 to 1:15 in the afternoon. So even if it is cloudy, look up see if you can detect any, any darkening, even with the cloud cover, you might be able to see something."

Williams says this acts as a preview for the upcoming April 8th, 2024 total eclipse, which Erie will be in the path of totality for. 

"So the one in April that everybody's heard about it's going to be a total solar eclipse, which almost nobody in the world, very few people get to get to see - I've never seen one myself," continued Willams.

"So we're all looking forward to that. But this is a preview of what we can see. It's not going to be total this [Saturday]. The alignment isn't perfect and so the moon blocks out 30% of the sun as seen from Erie."