How the solar eclipse will affect Monday's temperatures

(WJBK) - As the eclipse approaches on Monday, FOX 2's Derek Kevra explains how it will affect the weather in Metro Detroit.

It's common knowledge that when the sun is out, it's daytime and the atmosphere is warming up, and when the moon is out, it's nighttime and everything cools down. So, what happens when both are out at the same time, and the moon covers the sun? That's a solar eclipse.

How much does that impact our daily weather? FOX 2's Derek Kevra took a look at the last time we had a solar eclipse in 1994. Temperatures fell 4 degrees when the sun was out and then after it was covered.

He predicts that this coming Monday, temperatures will continue to rise while the sun is out until about 1 p.m. Then the total solar eclipse begins and when the sun is covered, we don't get as much solar radiation down to the surface, so temperatures will drop throughout the afternoon. It will cool off throughout the day.

By 2:27 p.m. when the sun is most covered up, that's when we'll lose the most amount of energy. Temperatures by about 3 p.m. will drop by about 6 degrees. Then the sun comes back out after 4 p.m., and the temperatures rise again until we're back in the upper 80s.

For weather patterns as a whole, we probably won't see much variation because storm systems are driven by changes in air mass.

FOX 2's Derek Kevra and Rich Luterman will be live on the FOX 2 Facebook page Monday during the solar eclipse. To watch with us, visit our Facebook page here Monday at 1 p.m.