FILE VIDEO: This National Weather Service video from the Glasgow, Montana, office shows the Northern Lights on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, during a geomagnetic storm.
Charged particles crashing into Earth are expected to create strong solar storm conditions early Monday morning, prompting a Geomagnetic Storm Watch as the Northern Lights could be visible farther south than usual.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colorado, said “strong” (G3) geomagnetic storm levels are likely from late Sunday night into Monday as effects from a coronal mass ejection arrive from the Sun. NOAA rates solar storms on a five-level scale, with five being the most extreme and rarest space weather conditions.
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The SWPC is predicting the Northern Lights to be visible after midnight through the pre-dawn hours Monday across much of the northern U.S. as far south as Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts.
(NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center)
A geomagnetic storm happens when a barrage of electrons smashes into Earth following a solar event like a coronal mass ejection. These interactions can cause problems with the power grid and satellites, but the public does not need to worry. A positive consequence of a solar storm is that these electrons interact with particles in Earth’s magnetic field, creating vivid displays known as the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.
Strong geomagnetic storms are less common. However, Earth experienced near-global auroras in May, even as far south as Florida, when an “extreme” geomagnetic storm occurred because of two groups of extremely active sunspots.
Northern Lights were seen as far south as Las Vegas last week
Those up early on Thursday during last week’s “strong” geomagnetic storm were likely surprised to see Northern Lights in parts of the Northwest and across the northern U.S.
The National Weather Service in Marquette, Michigan, shared this dazzling display of lights taken around 4:30 a.m. ET Thursday morning.
Northern Lights were even seen as far south as California and southern Nevada, including on the Bureau of Land Management cameras near Angel Peak.
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Despite the wildfire smoke in the region, the National Weather Service in Elko, Nevada, had a good view of the Northern Lights on Thursday morning.
Aurora lights seen over Elko, Nevada on Sept. 12, 2024.
(NWS Elko / X)