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A strong solar storm could bring northern lights to western Washington this weekend
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A strong solar storm could bring northern lights to western Washington this weekend

Look up! There’s a chance the Northern Lights will be visible in western Washington this weekend.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a G3 Geomagnetic Storm Watch through Sunday. The designation G3 means that a strong storm is expected. This is because a pair of coronal mass ejections will hit Earth’s upper atmosphere on Saturday and Sunday.

VIEW PHOTOS | A solar storm creates a beautiful light show in the Pacific Northwest

Although you can see some aurora phenomena on both Saturday and Sunday nights, the level of Northern Lights activity we saw earlier this year is not expected.

However, government forecasters say this space storm is strong enough to make the Aurora Borealis visible as far south as Oregon. With clear skies forecast at times, keep an eye on the north at night.

According to NOAA, the best aurora viewing is usually between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. The hours of active aurora are expanding into the evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases, space scientists said.

We’re told the best seasons for seeing aurora activity are around the spring and fall equinoxes, according to NOAA. That’s good and new, since we just passed the autumnal equinox. This is due to the way the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere, according to NOAA’s space weather website.

In May, another powerful solar storm created an astonishing skyward light show over western Washington, including the Seattle area. Brilliant purple, green, yellow and pink hues of the Northern Lights were reported in the Pacific Northwest and worldwide, with sightings in Germany, Switzerland, London, Prague, Barcelona and elsewhere.

If you see the Northern Lights and take photos, please send them to us via Chime In. We like to share them.