Northern lights: Chance to see aurora returns Friday as solar storm continues

(NEXSTAR) – Dazzling auroras may light up the skies of northern states again Friday night, and we’ve got ongoing geomagnetic storm activity to thank.

The solar storm activity peaked Thursday night into early Friday morning, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center, a division of NOAA.

“While it’s correct that the really big increase in activity is now on the decline, it doesn’t mean we are out of this yet,” Lt. Bryan Brasher, a project manager with the Center, said on Friday. “We are still forecasting continued storming for this evening, with a possibility of aurora becoming visible over the far Northern Tier states this evening.”

Even as things calm down, multiple coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, can still impact Earth as our magnetosphere “bounces back,” Brasher said.

CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic material from the sun that can impact navigation, communication and radio signals on Earth. They’re also able to cause auroras by creating currents in Earth’s magnetic fields that send particles to the North and South Poles, which then interact with oxygen and nitrogen, according to NASA.

Early Friday morning, NOAA confirmed a strong solar storm occurred, classified as a G-3 on the strength scale. When a storm reaches G-3 status, an aurora can be viewed as far south as Illinois and Oregon.

Overnight Friday and into Saturday morning, the storm is expected to weaken to a G-1. According to the scale, a minor G-1 storm leads to auroras commonly being visible in Maine and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The map below shows the forecast for Friday night. Areas in red have the greatest likelihood of seeing the auroras, while those in green are less likely to see them. The thinner red line is considered the view line, so even those outside of the green and red areas could see the northern lights if they’re along that line.

The view line for Friday night extends down into Washington, Idaho, Montana, northern Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, far northern Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

But with weaker levels of solar storms, as we’re expecting Friday night, auroras may be harder to spot. Brasher said folks up north hoping to spot northern lights should look for the red-tinted “tops” of the aurora.

Using a phone camera set to “night mode” or a camera with a long exposure could also help make the aurora visible, he said.

As with any northern lights, staying far away from city light pollution is key for spotting the phenomenon. Clear skies without cloud cover will also be necessary to see any pretty light patterns.

On the other end of the scale from Friday’s anticipated G-1, solar activity that causes a G-5 storm (the highest possible classification) has been known to make an aurora appear in Florida and even southern Texas (though other factors need to align to bring them that far south.)