A total solar eclipse has begun. Totality will last up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds in certain spots.

The eclipse is crossing North America, darkening skies along a path through Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Here’s the latest:

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE REACHES U.S. ON WAY TO CANADA

The moon’s shadow has moved into the U.S. with cloudy skies in store for a part of the total eclipse path from Texas to Maine.

The eclipse cuts through major cities including Dallas; Austin, Texas; Indianapolis; Cleveland; and Niagara Falls, New York.

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE BEGINS IN NORTH AMERICA OVER MEXICO

A total solar eclipse has reached North America over Mexico as throngs gather along the country’s Pacific coast.

It’ll race toward United States and eastern Canada before exiting into the Atlantic.

TEXANS THANKFUL FOR BREAKS IN CLOUDS

MESQUITE, Texas – City officials cheered as the thick clouds parted in early afternoon and the sun peeked out, with the moon already taking a bite out of it.

“We special ordered the sun this morning,” said downtown development manager Beverly Abell.

Hundreds gathered at Front Street Station for the outdoor watch party, many pulling out their eclipse glasses to watch the moon’s bite grow ever bigger.

At the Fort Worth Zoo, clouds occasionally moved over as the eclipse started. Zoo patrons stopped along the paths to take it in.

Todd Beeby, 34, drove up with friends from Houston. He said that even with some clouds moving over, the viewing was good.

“It’s kind of neat to see it roll in and out,” he said.

CHEERS IN MEXICO AS MOON BEGINS PASSING OVER SUN

MAZATLAN, Mexico – Cheers broke out along the beach in this resort city as the moon began to pass over the sun.

Hundreds in a beachside park had passed the waiting time by readying their equipment and listening to a youth orchestra play Star Wars songs while a large screen projected images of Princess Leia behind them.

Luz Elena Aguillón de la O sat in the grass with a group of 14 family and friends who had gathered from Mexico City, Guanajuato and right here in Mazatlan to take in the spectacle.

“Happy to be here with family, friends sharing a singular, unrepeatable event that the universe and nature give us,” she said.

BIDEN ENCOURAGES AMERICANS TO WEAR EYE PROTECTION

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden posted a brief video on X to encourage Americans to wear eye protection when viewing the eclipse – in a subtle dig at his predecessor and 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump.

“Folks, enjoy the eclipse, but play it safe, don’t be silly,” Biden said in a video showing him donning eclipse glasses and looking skyward from the balcony outside the Blue Room of the White House.

That’s the spot where Trump glanced up toward the sun without eye protection in 2017.

Biden is traveling to Wisconsin, which, like Washington, will experience a partial eclipse on Monday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she had no details to share on whether Biden would view the phenomenon.

PARTIAL ECLIPSE BEGINS OVER SOUTH PACIFIC

The moon has started to cover up the sun as a partial eclipse begins over the South Pacific. Millions along a narrow corridor in North America from Mexico’s Pacific coast to eastern Canada hope for clouds to clear as they eagerly wait for totality to reach their location.

MEXICAN BEACH TOWN IS FIRST IN LINE FOR TOTALITY

MAZATLAN, Mexico – Valeria Rosas says her four kids had been so excited by an October partial solar eclipse that passed over southeast Mexico, that she decided to come to this Pacific coast beach city for Monday’s total eclipse.

The 32-year-old drove eight hours from Leon, Guanajuato, with 10 friends and relatives.

They joined hundreds of others in a beachside park under blue skies streaked with wispy clouds. It’s the first part of North America that will get to see the total eclipse.

Rosas’ mother, Carmen Loza Rodríguez, recalled that Rosas was a baby when Mexico last saw a total solar eclipse in 1991.

“How cool that we have the opportunity to experience it in this digital age, that we can share it with the world,” Rosas said.

SPECTATORS ARRIVE EARLY AT NIAGARA FALLS

NIAGARA FALLS, New York — The main attraction at Niagara Falls is typically the more than 750,000 gallons of water that rush over the brink every second. On Monday, it was the eclipse.

Tourists streamed into Niagara Falls State Park with wagons, strollers, coolers and chairs. Photographers’ tripods lined a railing under cloudy skies.

Synthia Nguyen and Jen Cerna from Washington, D.C., claimed a prime lawn spot along the rapids, arriving at 6 a.m. with chairs, a blanket and a tent — that they were quickly asked to take down.

They were excited that totality would last a few minutes, long enough for it to sink in.

The pair work in an ophthalmology office.

“We’re expecting a lot of calls tomorrow,” Cerna said.