Solar Eclipse Glasses In Short Supply At Local Stores

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - It's the talk of the town, well almost.

On Monday, there will be a total solar eclipse. It will be the first total solar eclipse in 99 years to cross a coast-to-coast swath of the United States. A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, completely blotting out the sunlight.

Here in South Florida, we won't get a total eclipse, but we will get a pretty good partial eclipse - about 80 percent of the sun's surface will be blocked by the moon.

It will begin at 1:26 p.m. and last just about three hours - it will peak at 2:57 p.m., according to TimeAndDate.com.

All the experts agree that the use of special eclipse viewing safety glasses cannot be stressed enough. Regular sunglasses are not enough to protect your eyes from damage.

But there's a catch. If you're looking for special glasses in South Florida last minute, you're going to have a problem. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) put out a list of vendors who carry them. Unfortunately, most are already sold out.

Best Buy was sold out online as was Toys R Us. Both said to check the local stores. The ones we contacted were sold out.

The special glasses are not even listed on Walmart's website, even though they are listed as a recommended vendor by the AAS.

A check of a handful of 7-Eleven stores also found they were sold out and didn't think they would be getting any more in before Monday.

Lowe's is out online and the website said to call your local store to see if they were available. We called the Lowe's in Pembroke Pines. Their customer service rep said not only were they sold out, so were the other Lowe's stores in the area.

So if you really want to watch the eclipse, you're probably going to have to order the glasses online and pay a hefty amount to get them shipped here on time.

The next annular solar eclipse will happen in 2023 and will be visible from Northern California to Florida.