The Northern Lights May Be Visible in Parts of the U.S. This Week. Here’s Where and When You Could See Them

The Northern Lights could illuminate skies in over a dozen states on Monday and Tuesday.. Large expulsions of plasma from the sun, known as coronal mass ejection, are forecast to reach the Earth overnight Monday or by midday on Tuesday, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.K.’s national meteorological service, which could cause a strong geomagnetic storm and make the Northern Lights visible further south than usual. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The beautiful phenomenon, also known as the aurora borealis, occurs when such plasma and the Earth’s magnetic field interact, producing colorful light displays.  Geomagnetic activity will likely reach a G1 on the geomagnetic storm scale, ranking as a minor event, on Monday, before intensifying into a stronger G3 geomagnetic storm on Tuesday, NOAA predicted. Portions of 15 states could have a full or partial view of the aurora Monday and Tuesday, per the agency’s forecast, including Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, Washington, Wisconsin. A forecast from Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska predicts that, with clear skies, the lights could be visible Monday evening from Utqiaġvik to Anchorage and Juneau in Alaska, as well as in Maine, Idaho, Indiana, and Wyoming. On Tuesday evening, the University is slightly more optimistic than NOAA, showing potential for the lights to be seen in cities like Indianapolis, Chicago, Cleveland and Boston, as well. And the lights don’t have to be directly overhead for…

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