Northern lights may dazzle over Washington. Here’s when to look
Update: Spotting the northern lights lasted until early Tuesday morning. Take a look at the bright lights.
Original story:
Washington may see waves of shimmering lights in the sky late Monday night.
A “moderate” geomagnetic storm is forecast until Tuesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The solar storm could make the northern lights visible in parts of Washington, Wisconsin and New York.
The storm is a result of a region on the sun exploding, which sent out a solar flare, according to SpaceWeather.com.
Although the flare didn’t target Earth, the impacts of the geomagnetic storm may be visible from northern latitudes in the form of an aurora.
Northern lights — or aurora borealis — occur when colliding electrons reach the Earth’s atmosphere.
“Earth’s magnetic field guides the electrons such that the aurora forms two ovals approximately centered at the magnetic poles.,” NOAA said. “During major geomagnetic storms these ovals expand away from the poles such that aurora can be seen over most of the United States.”
Viewing the intensity and location of the aurora can be viewed on the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center website.
NOAA rated this storm as a G2. Power grids could fluctuate and satellites may be impacted. At higher latitudes, “radio propagation” could fade.
The five-scale system reaches “extreme” when power grids collapse or blackout.
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 4:45 PM.
