According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Northern Lights will once again color Colorado’s skies tonight.

Last week’s burst of geomagnetic storms was just a sampling of the storms expected to hit Earth this evening, meaning the lights will be more vibrant and easier to see – especially if you know where to look.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center observed a severe G4 geomagnetic storm on Thursday – the second strongest storm level on the scale.

Space weather officials said a G4-level coronal mass ejection “erupted from the Sun” on Tuesday evening and is expected to arrive on Earth on Thursday.

According to space weather officials, G4 storms are rare. When abnormally strong geomagnetic storms occur, bright northern lights will be visible at unusually low latitudes. The Northern Lights have been seen in the past during severe G4 storms as low as Alabama and Northern California.

The fastest coronal mass ejections can reach Earth from the Sun in 15 to 18 hours, and slower ejections can take several days to arrive, NOAA officials said.

When the emissions hit Earth, they create geomagnetic storms that threaten power grids and voltage controls, disrupt satellite services and low-frequency radio navigation systems and cause problems for spacecraft operations, weather officials said. They also create the northern lights.

Maps released by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center show the expected range of the Northern Lights Thursday evening, with northern Colorado hitting the mark for at least faint visibility.