I was in Portland at the time of the 1979 eclipse, and it was rainy as usual. I figured that the weather might be clear east of the Cascades, so I drove through the Columbia Gorge out to around Boardman, but it was still overcast. At first light, about an hour before the eclipse, I saw a hole in the clouds about 50 miles back to the west and just made it there in time. Lucky.
Yes, I understand that the western states were hampered by bad weather. We were really fortunate in the Winnipeg area.