30 Years Ago, a Rare Eclipse Reached Totality Over Missouri

I've lived in Missouri most of my life, but for some reason that I can't remember, I wasn't living in the state 30 years ago when a rare solar eclipse reached totality directly over Missouri. I've collected some memories of that day.

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What is it about Missouri and solar eclipses? Missouri was along the path of the historic 2017 total solar eclipse that crossed America and will be again on April 8, 2024. I had forgotten about the solar eclipse of May 10, 1994 where Missouri was cut in half by the path of the eclipsing sun overhead. This is a map shared by NASA featured on Wikipedia.

The eclipse that happened over Missouri on May 10, 1994 was an annular solar eclipse meaning the sun wasn't totally covered, but had what appeared to be a wedding ring around its perimeter. This is how the sun looked during totality that day.

My wife told me that she came down to Canton, Missouri to witness the eclipse at Culver Stockton College.

How rare was the annular eclipse over Missouri in 1994?

Exploratorium says that annular eclipses aren't that rare and happen every year or two, but for Missouri to be directly in the path of one is NOT common. As a matter of fact, there was one last October, but it was visible in the Pacific and nowhere close to Missouri. They just don't happen over our heads very often which makes these sky sights special.