WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the eclipse in Kansas (all times local):
3:00 p.m.
Clouds parted just in time in downtown Topeka for many people to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse as it reached its peak of 99 percent.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that about 200 people at a watch part on the parking lot of the library got a look for about 30 seconds through a thin sheen of clouds. People cheered as a small portion of the sun could be seen when the clouds separated.
Light rain pelted employees on the rooftop of the Westar Energy in downtown Topeka as they waited for the eclipse’s peak. Employees were able to spot the sun for a fleeting few seconds.
The skies were clearer in the Wichita area where people could see a little more than 92 percent of the eclipse.
2p.m.
The first total solar eclipse to sweep the U.S. coast to coast in nearly a century has come to an end in South Carolina.
Americans across the land watched in wonder Monday as the moon blocked the sun, turning daylight into twilight.
Totality — when the sun is completely obscured by the moon — lasted just two minutes or so in each location along the narrow corridor stretching all the way across the U.S., from Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. It took about 90 minutes for total blockage to cross the country.
Two-hundred million people live within a day’s drive of Monday’s path of totality. So towns and parks along the eclipse’s main drag have welcomed monumental crowds. The last coast-to-coast eclipse was in 1918.
1:50 p.m.
Northwest U.S. cities not quite in the path of totality enjoyed Monday’s solar eclipse.
Boise is not in totality. But birds quieted down briefly when 99.5 percent of sun was blocked. And some neighborhoods erupted into applause and hooting as residents cheered the show from their yards.
In Portland, hundreds gathered at Tom McCall Waterfront Park to see the rare celestial event. Some office workers stood on rooftops, and small crowds gathered on the sidewalks, looking skyward. Some expressed surprise that even a sliver of sun can prevent a city from falling into darkness.
Within minutes, traffic resumed on what had been eerily quiet downtown streets.