Shown above is the path of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse.

(Michael Zeiler, www.GreatAmericanEclipse.com)

At a Glance

The next total solar eclipse will take place in four years on April 8, 2024.Average April weather conditions provide some perspective on viewing conditions.

If you were unable to get directly in the path of the on Aug. 21, 2017, the good news is thatthe next total solar eclipse will pass through North America only four years from now.

April 8, 2024,is when the next total solar eclipse will slice through the continent, beginning in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, cutting a diagonal across the Lower 48 to Maine and finishing in Canada's maritime provinces.

Totality will begin at 12:38 p.m. EDT and end at 3:55 p.m. EDT along theentire path of the eclipse. The maximum eclipse will be observed near the cities of Nazas and Torreón, Mexico, where totalitywill last four minutes and 28 seconds.

This is a much different path than , which started in the Pacific Northwest, cut across the nation's heartland and ended in the Southeast.

(MORE: How the Solar Eclipse Changed the Weather)

Interestingly, a few locations south of St. Louis in southeastern Missouri that experienced totality on Aug. 21, 2017, will also be in the path of totality for the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse. This includes Cape Girardeau and Farmington, Missouri.

But will the weather cooperate for April 2024's solar eclipse?

While it's obviously much too earlyfor us to make a credible, specific forecast for the weather conditions four years from now, average April weather conditions over many years provide some perspective on the chance that rain or cloudiness could block your view.

Cloud Cover

There is a higher chance that the eclipse could be blocked by clouds in the northern states than in the southern states.

, a climatologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, constructed the map below, which shows average afternoon cloud cover based on a long-term average from 1979 to 2016.

This map shows the average cloud cover (percent) at 2 p.m. EDT from April 3 to 13 based on 1979 to 2016 ERA-Interim data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF).

(Dr. Brian Brettschneider)

Buffalo, New York, and Cleveland average 60 to 70% cloud cover on a typical early-April afternoon, whileAustin and San Antonio, Texas, average only 30 to 40% cloud cover during that time. These cities are all in the path of totality for the April 2024 eclipse.

also constructed the map below, which shows the cloudiest month of the year.

This map shows the cloudiest month of the year.

(Dr. Brian Brettschneider)

In portions of the Southwest, Great Basin, Rockies and Plains, April is the cloudiest month of the year on average. This is also true in a narrow band that stretches from North Florida to central Virginia, as well as in much of Maine, northern New Hampshire and parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut.

This is bad news for residents of northern New England because the path of totality will pass directly through that region, and odds favor stubborn cloud cover that would likely inhibit viewing.

Keep in mind that this map represents strictly climatological averages. A strong area of high pressure parked over New England would yield mostly sunny skies for most of the region, but that can't be determined until a few days to a weekbefore this total solar eclipse.

On average, April is the forthe overall Lower 48 states, according to March 2015 blog.

PrecipitationChance

Of course, rain would also inhibit viewing of the eclipse because clouds would likely be thick if they are producing precipitation. Some places could even be dealing with late-season snowfall in early April.

map below indicates where rain may create headaches for eclipse hunters on April 8, 2024.

This map shows the wettest month of the year.

(Dr. Brian Brettschneider)

April is the wettest month for parts of the Southeast, lower Mississippi Valley, central Great Basin and southeastern New Jersey. April showers do bring May flowers, after all.

The only region in that list that will see totality is the lower Mississippi Valley in portions of Arkansas and southeastern Missouri.

Even if April isn't the wettest month on average in a certain location, this doesn't mean rain won't block your view of the total solar eclipse in four years. Any individual low-pressure system could spread thick clouds and rain (or snow) across a region, fading away all hopes of seeing this phenomenal sight.

(MORE: Yes, April Is Actually the Snowiest Month in These Places)

Again, a specific forecast for rain or snow cannot be accurately made until a few days prior to the eclipse. We hope you'll check back to weather.com in about four years for those details.

There are 29.9 million people thatlivein the April 2024 eclipsepath, told weather.com. The August 2017 eclipse had9.3 million people living in its path.

After the April 2024 eclipse, the next total solar eclipse in North America won't be until 2045.

People watch the start of the solar eclipse and raise their hands in prayer at an eclipse viewing event led by Native American elders at Big Summit Prairie ranch in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest near the city of Mitchell on August 21, 2017. The Sun started to vanish behind the Moon as the partial phase of the so-called Great American Eclipse began, with millions of eager sky-gazers soon to witness "totality" across the nation for the first time in nearly a century. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

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