In Northern Virginia town, the eclipse was eclipsed

FAIRFAX, Va. — At 2:36 p.m., just minutes before the eclipse was scheduled to reach its peak, thick, dark storm clouds rolled over the sun like a curtain in downtown Fairfax City. The eclipse was eclipsed, much to the disappointment of people who had gathered on a nearby roof of an office building and in a 7-Eleven parking lot.

As if to punctuate the anticlimax, a low rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.

Charlie Maguire and his ex-girlfriend Jitchaya Mobundit, both 32, stood in the convenience store parking lot as the final rays of the sun were blotted out by the clouds. They had stopped at the store to get a pair of eclipse glasses before heading to a nearby parking garage.

It was not the show they had hoped for, and now they didn’t know what to do.

“Yeah, clouds,” Maguire said. “I don’t know if I can assess how disappointed I am.”

After staring at the clouds for a few minutes, they got back in their car and left. Eclipse plans nixed. Minutes later, nature added a final insult. A torrential downpour started, washing away the remaining watchers.

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