From Erie to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanians experience rare solar eclipse

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- From the path of totality in Erie to 97% coverage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanians experienced the rare solar eclipse on Monday afternoon.  

In Erie, about two hours from Pittsburgh, people gathered to watch the total solar eclipse and broke out in applause as they plunged into darkness. Emotions took over as everyone fixated on the ring in the sky. There was a lot of awe, disbelief and strained necks as people looked up for four minutes straight.

One family drove eight hours from Virginia. 

"I honestly was not that excited about it. I was like, eight hours for three minutes? But it was totally worth it. It was amazing," one family member said. 

State police said Erie was preparing for up to 250,000 visitors. People who live in Erie said they're excited to be a part of the experience. 

"I think it's really cool to be able to witness and have totality where I live. I think it's really one in a million, you know? I'm also really excited for a bunch of new people to get to come into Erie and kind of see what we have to offer other than just the lake, the summer stuff and all the stuff that everybody already knows about," one resident said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was in Erie to watch the eclipse. He arrived in Perry Square along with NASA astronaut and North Allegheny alum Warren "Woody" Hoburg. Hoburg said he wouldn't have missed it for anything. 

"What a cool time. It's great to see all the enthusiasm of people out here and all the excitement," Hoburg said. 

Pittsburgh wasn't in the path of totality, and the difference between 100% totality and 97% totality was pretty big. Still, thousands of people gathered at the Carnegie Science Center to watch.

The atmosphere was one of celebration as the moon passed between the earth and the sun. There was a countdown leading up to 3:17 p.m., the moment when Pittsburgh hit 97% totality. 

"I thought it was pretty neat. The kids were thinking it was going to be a lot darker out, so I think they were a little surprised by that, but I think it was a pretty cool experience," one woman said.

The science center said they sold 4,000 tickets. They rolled out the celestial red carpet for the event, with games, demonstrations and a viewing party in the planetary livestreaming NASA's watch party. 

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of situation. You can't take life for granted. The next time that (my daughter) would be able to see this opportunity, she would be my age, 30, so I definitely wanted to share that experience with my kids," another woman said. 

Joshua Berman took in Monday's views, but he is no stranger to capturing moments like this. 

"This is the fourth eclipse that I've shot over the years," he said.

Berman, a photographer, always finds himself near the path of totality, including taking pictures in Argentina and Idaho of past solar eclipses.

"There's something special about eclipse," he said. 

In:
• Eclipse
• Pittsburgh