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Will the Northern Lights be visible again tonight? See latest prediction

Vaseline October 11, 2024

If you missed the beautiful red, blue and purple lights that lit up the night sky on Thursday, Friday evening may offer you another opportunity.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center said the Strong (G3) Geomagnetic Storm Watch would be visible Friday evening.

“The underlying cause for this activity decreases as it moves across the Earth, something called the coronal mass ejection, or CME for short,” Shawn Dahl, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center Service Coordinator, told USA TODAY. “What that is is a discharge and explosion of solar material and strong magnetic fields, and in this case it happened on the evening of October 8 and it arrived here in force yesterday morning.”

“And it’s going to be busy all day long with activity and severe storm levels and the kind of response that it provides,” he added.

Those wanting to see the Northern Lights should keep an eye on the forecast center website for updates and conditions.

While the lights may not be as vibrant as Thursday night’s show, many people will still be able to see the picturesque phenomenon in parts of the country.

According to the University of Alaska’s Aurora Forecast Tracker, the Northern Lights may be visible low on the horizon from Seattle, Des Moines, Chicago, Cleveland and Boston between 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM ET.

What are the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights occur when high-energy particles from the sun reach Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million miles per hour, according to Space.com. Earth’s magnetic field directs the particles to the poles through a process that produces a stunning display of beams, spirals and flickers that have fascinated people for thousands of years.

Why do we see different colors during the Northern Lights?

Dahl explains that the molecules in our atmosphere play a role in the colors that appear in the sky.

“Often the Aurora develops its interaction in lower levels of the atmosphere, which interacts with types of molecules that emit green light,” he said. “Red hasn’t been seen lately because it usually happens much higher, almost double the height of where we see the green Aurora. That’s just because of the different energy states and particles up there.”

Will we get a glimpse of the Northern Lights again?

Skygazers, you’re in luck! Dahl says it’s likely the Northern Lights will be visible again this year and in the years to come.

“It is very likely that the Aurora will develop again before the end of the year,” he said. “We’re not done yet. We’re going to be on this rollercoaster ride of maxing out solar energy for the rest of this year, all of next year and even 2026.”

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter for USA TODAY’s National Trending Team. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, stories on crime, health, lotteries and public policy. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfinest.