Staying up to see lunar eclipse? Prospects ‘unlikely’ for Southern California due to clouds

Try again in 2025.

Southern California sky gazers will have a hard time seeing the total lunar eclipse early Tuesday — though they may catch a glimpse of it through briefly parting clouds, according to meteorologists.

The region’s first significant winter storm will be lashing Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California with rain and cloud cover as the final lunar eclipse until 2025 settles over North America around 2:17 a.m.

“It seems unlikely [that Southern Californians will see the eclipse],” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “Though it’s theoretically possible; there could be some breaks in the clouds tonight.”

But don’t bet on it, Wofford said.

The lunar eclipse, weather permitting, is expected to be visible across North America in Tuesday’s early hours. The total eclipse will last about 1½ hours. The moon will turn a reddish hue, which is why the eclipse is known as a “blood moon.”

For those unable to see the celestial show because of poor weather conditions, the eclipse will be livestreamed on YouTube by timeanddate.com from its mobile observatory in New Mexico.