Quote Originally Posted by DavidSh View Post
If we are going to cite authority, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory agrees with me, concluding "Best to specify the meaning on first use of the phrase."

Either way, I thought it interesting to point out the Alaskan appearance. Hawaii (neither continental nor continuous) doesn't get any total eclipses this century, just a couple of annular eclipses. I don't see anything for the insular possessions like Guam or American Samoa.

For our European members, Iceland and northern Spain get a total solar eclipse in August of 2026. Also parts of Greenland.
Well, to take a phrase from NREL, in its strictest sense I wasn't citing authority for strict definitions so much as showing how "continental US" is most commonly used, which agrees with Psyren, as i suspect you'd agree that the US military, Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of Homeland Security (the most common organizations to use "OCONUS") are going to be more familiar among most people and have more usage of the phrase than NREL.

The Alaska occurrence is neat though! I think if I was going to travel OCONUS (choose your own C) I'd probably shoot for New Zealand in 2028.