HOUSTON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A total solar eclipse is cutting across North America on Monday, with a large swath of south-central U.S. state of Texas sitting in the path of totality.
Across the state, tens of thousands of people were witnessing the solar eclipse, though partly influenced with cloud coverage and even forecasted severe weather.
The eclipse started at Mexico's Pacific coast around 1:07 p.m. CDT, crossed into the United States near Eagle Pass, western Texas, at 1:27 p.m. and then moved northeast across Texas, and many other states before it continues on to Canada.
However, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has placed nearly the entire eclipse's path of totality within Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas inside a severe weather risk for Monday.
Hours before the moon fully blocked out the sun, the Texas Eclipse Festival in Burnet, Texas, was cancelled and attendees were evacuated due to forecasted severe weather.
"We regret to inform you of the severe weather forecast, including risks of high winds, tornadic activity, large hail, and thunderstorms for later today, including during the eclipse, Tuesday, and Wednesday," the event announced on Monday.
In Dallas, FOX Weather Meteorologist Stephen Morgan said the clouds had parted in time for totality just a few minutes away.
"There will be places that have more sun. There will be places that have more clouds," said FOX 4 meteorologist Evan Andrews.
In cloudy Houston, which is not on the path of totality, a number of museums held events to help people enjoy a partial eclipse with the moon blocking 94 percent of the sun.
During the eclipse, the sky becomes noticeably darker and the temperature could drop 10 to 15 degrees in Houston, according to Michael Zeiler with Great American Eclipse.
According to NASA, the last total solar eclipse occurred in 2017 and the next one won't happen for another 20 years.
A crush of eclipse tourism has reportedly attracted more than 1 million people to visit Texas for experiencing a total solar eclipse, state officials said.
Multiple Central Texas counties have declared local disasters in order to control people inflows and tap into more state resources, local media outlet KXAN reported. ■