Colorful northern lights may be seen across more than 20 states Thursday and Friday nights as a strong geomagnetic storm impacts the Earth’s atmosphere.
The dazzling display could be seen as far north as Alaska and as far south as Indiana, according to a projection from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
Other states that might sneak a peak include Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine.
The best viewing conditions are expected in the Northern Plains region, although skies aren’t expected to be completely clear nearly anywhere Thursday.
Much of the West Coast is being impacted by heavy rain and snow at higher elevations.
Those in New England may also have to work to see any aurora, according to the National Weather Service’s office in Portland, Maine.
“Clouds will be prevalent in the mountains, but elsewhere there could be some windows to go viewing,” the officer wrote in a post.
Some social media users have already reported seeing the lights in Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan and on a plane flying from Denver to Chicago.
“The full moon was no match for this auroral show, with both naked eye colors and vibrant on camera captures happening all the way down into Ohio and Indiana!” the Michigan Storm Chasers wrote on X, alongside a shot of a magenta-cloud and wisps of key lime pie green against an early evening sky in Ann Arbor.
The phenomenon is the result of a coronal mass ejection, a powerful solar flare that can trigger a geomagnetic storm as they meet the Earth’s magnetic field. The northern lights are produced as a result of these collisions.
A Wednesday flare combined with the edge of a fast-flowing stream of solar wind, leading to “a more profound impact than was originally expected.”
This geomagnetic storm is classified as a “G3” storm, considered strong on the Space Weather Prediction Center’s scale of one to five. A G3 storm can bring “mainly controllable” power grid fluctuations and affect GPS and satellite operations.
A “more Earth-directed” coronal mass ejection is also expected to pass over the U.S. later Thursday with stronger levels possible Friday, so people have plenty of time to find a dark sky and get away from light pollution with their cameras.
The best way to catch the lights is to find a north-facing view with a clear horizon at around midnight to 2 a.m. local time.
