The Traunkirchen Total Solar Eclipse
11th August 1999

With some hot fine weather it all looked good for the approaching eclipse. However, after dinner, as we gazed into a clear Austrian night glistening with Vega, Deneb and Altair, the sky began sparking over to the north-west. A cheeky storm was heading our way. Lazily we supped on the local brew while out on the lake a boat full of Austrian brass musicians Umpa-ed their way, clearly not paying an ounce of attention to the now approaching (what later turned out to be a) great enormous huge Austrian hurricane thingy brewing off their starboard bow.

Raindrops the size of peas, then melons, then pumpkins began to fall. The speed with which the entire scene changed from a quiet still night to a fierce storm in just a few minutes was incredible. We fast retreated inside, alas the Umpa band had nowhere to hide. An open lake holds no protection, and with brass instruments held aloft, "Come and get us, lightning!", they silently cried. They were not disappointed. Really. I have never seen almost continuous lightning with such a force of wind and rain.

Wolfgang assured us this was quite normal, and that the Umpa band were OK. On the TV news the following morning it was announced that a most unusually violent storm had passed over the area. We never saw the Umpa band again.

The storm had gone leaving low cloud and rain which didn't look so good for the approaching eclipse. We travelled by train to the rain-soaked Bad Ischl. Now, I'm not saying it was dull there, but the main excitement of the day happened after our return journey and this involved a collision between an blue articulated lorry and an overloaded wagon of hay bales: they know how to have fun in Traunkirchen.

Thankfully it wasn't fish tonight, plus the sky had cleared, so I was in a happy frame of mind. The stars were out again as we lazily supped etc. There is an 'unfortunately' approaching, just to spoil things... Unfortunately I felt a wind. Those gusts gave me an idea that something was lurking behind those western mountains; the big puffy white cloudy rainy lurking variety of something. By 2am a high veil of cloud had 'fuzzied' out many of the stars. Clearly the eclipse was going to be touch and go.

7am: We were still no nearer to knowing what the weather would be like nearer totality. From our balcony I could see high cloud, medium cloud and low cloud. Some of this made vast sheets of greyness while others puffed their way in patches across the sky. Small areas of blue appeared here and there, but it wasn't a pleasant sight. The TV weather didn't suggest it was better anywhere else nearby, so we were going to take our chances at our chosen site: the Gemundenberg mountain. Actually watching the TV probably wouldn't have helped anyway, the Austrian weather is incredibly difficult to predict at the best of times. As Wolfgang said, "when giving forecasts they put every symbol possible on the map, and they still don't get it right!".

9.15am: As we looked from our balcony across the Traunsee our Gemundenberg site was almost hidden beneath low cloud. Could it get any worse? It could.

10.30am: Rain. Torrential rain fell on the drive up to our viewing site. We decided to take a look anyway, and depending on what we found, we would decide whether it was worth staying or not. With great relief the sky began brightening as we approached the top. Patches of blue sky appeared once more over to the west, the direction the weather was coming from. So, we decided here was a good as anywhere.

11.19am: The Sun came and went throughout the morning, but was shining happily for FIRST CONTACT. Shortly afterwards the clouds paid us a visit blocking the Sun for about ten minutes. Upon clearing we had a view of the first real 'bite' that had been taken out of the Sun together with an 'Oooooh!' from the building band of watchers. We all knew 'it' had arrived, the eclipse which we had been waiting for, and totality was just over an hour away!

11.50am: (Half an hour after First Contact) This was when we first noticed a very slight but noticeable drop in the light levels.

12.35pm: (about 5 minutes before totality) The scene was of a harsh twilight; an amazing lowering of light with everything producing extremely defined shadows. A dark wall was approaching from the west, akin to a heavy rainstorm from a thick black cloud. The high cloud which had covered the Sun for the past fifteen minutes cleared two minutes before totality. This left a perfectly clear large area of dark blue sky. It was also getting colder.

12.41pm: Just before totality the corona appeared through the brilliance of the rapidly diminishing remaining photosphere crescent. This was the moment I became extremely excited. Within a few seconds TOTALITY arrived: I was so amazed by how big and bright the whole thing was. There were several bright patches, caused by prominences, easily visible around the lunar disc. The corona itself was wonderfully symmetrical with several long coronal streamers meandering gently away from the Sun. Venus and Mercury were easily visible within, and defining, the clear patch of sky surrounding the eclipse itself. The horizon was bright, being lit by the many clouds around our site. These clouds, also filling much of the sky, probably precluded us from seeing any of the brighter stars that may have been visible.

Over to the west the sky was lightening; daylight was rushing towards us. Then came a brightening of the corona where the Sun was to appear as the amazing Diamond Ring. Totality was over. The entire sky and landscape brightened instantly as the Moon's shadow moved off eastwards. Venus stayed visible for over a minute after totality, visible until the clouds came back and covered the sky above us, including the Sun!

The clouds in the afternoon were much like the morning skies until eventually the sky became totally overcast. It remained this way for the following few days. Looking back we were certainly so lucky to have seen the eclipse, and with a perfect totality.

Congratulations to all of us Eclipse Watchers: Gillian & Morten, Hannah, Rachael & Jenny, Roy, Tony & Anne, Marcus & Linda, Geoff & Linda, Dennis, Harry, Jane & Steve, Brian, and... oh yes, Kevin.

What an experience the whole eclipse had been. I would say without any shadow of a doubt that it was the most amazing spectacle I have ever seen.

As for the length of totality, all I can tell you is that 2 minutes 20 seconds seemed to flash by - it all happened too fast! Roll on Botswana in 2002.

• Eclipse Track Map of our Gmundenberg Observing Site (JPG 87K)
  
• Local Sevenoaks Newspaper Eclipse Article (JPG 192K)
  
• Map of Eclipse Path through Britain (JPG 198K)
  
• Map of Eclipse Path through Europe (JPG 343K)