The sky decides, not the map
Every figure below is from Jay Anderson's satellite-derived August climatology for this eclipse (eclipsophile.com) — the standard reference eclipse chasers actually plan on.
| Zone | August sky | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Cádiz (Atlantic Spain) | 88% sun-visible days | Half the totality of Egypt |
| Strait sites (Tarifa, Gibraltar) | ≈74% | Levante wind & strait cloud; mobile observers do better |
| Melilla / Moroccan Med coast | 61% of max sunshine | Morning marine stratus — the author calls this coast "dicey" |
| Benghazi → Saudi Arabia band | ≈0–5% cloud | Includes Libya's access problem; heat everywhere |
| Luxor | 0.7% cloud frequency | 40°C+; dust/haze is the residual risk, not cloud |
| Siwa & Bahariya oases | near-zero, dust-resistant | Long desert roads, tiny capacity |
Parts of the Libya–western-Egypt track have recorded no eclipse-day August cloud in 23 years of satellite data. That is why the eastern half of this path is considered the most reliable eclipse sky of the century — and why the comparison sorts by cloud, not just minutes.
One asymmetry worth internalising: you can buy back lost duration with a better position inside a clear zone, but no position inside an overcast zone returns a single second. Risk first. Minutes second.