Foggy, windy weather to continue; Clouds might break for weekend lunar eclipse

The week started foggy, cloudy, windy, and wet in the Netherlands. And that weather image will persist for the entire week, according to the meteorological institute KNMI forecast. The cloud cover may clear long enough for Netherlands residents to see the partial lunar eclipse this weekend.

The entire week will be predominantly cloudy with a solid chance of rain, maximums around 14 or 15 degrees, and a moderate to strong southwesterly wind. Wednesday has the best chance of sunshine (30 percent) and the least chance of showers (50 percent).

According to Weeronline expert Rico Schröder, the current weather isn’t unusual for the time of year. The Netherlands is in the middle of the transition from summer to winter and is already tending towards more winter-like weather.

The last phase of October typically gets temperatures around 13 degrees, 26 millimeters of rainfall, and 36 hours of sunshine - around 3 hours per day. “All in all, we can say that this week is very normal autumn weather with daily rain and fairly normal temperatures. Only the hours of sunshine are on the gloomy side,” Schröder said.

This weekend will have a bit more room for clear skies, and that may be enough to see the partial lunar eclipse happening on Saturday night. The KNMI expects partially cloudy weather for Saturday and Sunday, with a 30 percent chance of sunshine and a 60 to 70 percent chance of rain.

The entire lunar eclipse, when Earth’s shadow is cast upon the moon, will take 4 hours and 24 minutes. This begins with the initial, lighter penumbral stage of the eclipse at 8:01 p.m., according to a projection from NASA.

The excitement really starts when the darker umbral shadow will start to cross the face of the moon from 9:35 p.m. The peak of the eclipse will be visible at 10:15 p.m. The dark shadow will then transition away from the moon at 10:52 p.m., and the penumbral shadow will disappear at 12:26 a.m. on Sunday.

The eclipse over the weekend will be visible across most of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but also to a lesser extent in the eastern portion of the Americas and the western portion of Australia.

Those in the Netherlands will next have an opportunity to see another lunar eclipse on September 18, 2024. That eclipse should peak at about 4:45 a.m.