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This is a northern lights forecast for Wednesday night, September 28, 2016. The shaded area is where northern lights could be visible overhead. The solid green line shows just how far south northern lights may be seen.

(University of Alaska- Geophysical Institute)

Northern lights could explode in color over Michigan tonight. The way this situation is unfolding, anywhere in Michigan could see the northern lights. There will just be some areas in Michigan that have better viewing chances than other areas.

The farther north you will be in Michigan, the higher the northern lights could be overhead. It is expected that northern lights could be as high as overhead as far south as Bay City, Mt. Pleasant and Muskegon.

The northern lights could be visible all the way to the southern Michigan border. The farther south you are, the lower the northern lights would be on the horizon.

This is the cloud forecast for midnight, September 29, 2016. Most of Michigan will have clear enough skies to see the northern lights. Far southern Michigan may stay too cloudy for seeing northern lights.

Will it be clear enough?

So the chance of northern lights occurring is rated as moderate by the Space Weather Prediction Center.

The cloud cover at your location may be a limiting factor in viewing northern lights.

Most of Michigan north of I-96 should have skies clear enough to allow vision of northern lights. The graphic above shows the cloud forecast at midnight tonight. The far southern part of Lower Michigan and the western end of the U.P. may have too much cloudiness to see the northern lights.

The cloud cover will also have a diurnal component. After the sun sets, many of the clouds in northern Michigan should dissipate.

What's the best advice from experts on seeing the northern lights? Get to the darkest place you can find, with a clear vision of the northern horizon. It helps if you can get on top of a hill.

Take a nap this afternoon or evening, and be ready to get outside overnight.

Watch MLive for updates on the northern lights tonight.