There was general feeling of disappointment for many people who tried to view Monday's solar eclipse in Barrie, as thick cloud cover rolled in after a bright and sunny Sunday.
A handful of people gathered downtown at Memorial Square to take in what they could, despite the cloudy sky.
As 3:15 p.m. arrived, the moment when 97 per cent of the sun was to be eclipsed by the moon, it quickly grew noticeably darker for a few minutes, along with a slight temperature drop.
Birds were observed taking to the sky and the gulls in the area squawked away during the peak time, likely confused by the early onset of darkness.
Street lights flickered on and the large lighted 'Heart Barrie' sign at Heritage Park lit up, showing its bright colours while the eclipse peaked.
Patrick Gowan, of Barrie Mitsubishi, was holding an eclipse viewing event at nearby Swirleez, a local frozen yogourt business, where he was handing out free eclipse glasses and coupons for free treats.
“It was very uneventful,” he said with a laugh as he spoke with BarrieToday. “Nothing happened.”
“I had a lot of fun watching paint dry once and this was right up there,” Gowan added.
Even though Barrie was not in the 'path of totality,' many people in the area were expecting more darkness due to the 97 per cent coverage of the sun.
Barrie resident Alyssa Taccone, 28, lamented the cloudiness on what was to be an eventful day.
“It was kind of sad that it was cloudy,” she said as she stood downtown watching with a handful of her friends. “We got the glasses and were hoping to actually see something, but it was cool that it got a bit dark."
The next solar eclipses occurring in our region will consist of slight ones in 2025 and 2026, with the next significant one in 2029 with around 85 per cent sun coverage.
As far as a total eclipse over the province, there will be parts of northern Ontario that will see totality in just over 80 years' time, in 2106, according to calculations from online databases.
So mark your calendars for your future relatives, as Barrie will be due to see a total solar eclipse in 2144. That's only 120 years from now.
