The northern lights may be visible this evening due to a rare magnetic storm. According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, a level G3 (strong) storm will arrive on Monday, weakening to G2 (moderate) on Tuesday. This will give us here in the state a chance to view the auroras.

If you live north of the green line in the photo above, you will be able to view the auroras. If you live under the green shaded area, you will have the prime viewing as the auroras will be overhead of you. As for timing, the Space Weather Prediction Center says, “the arrival of a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream has been delayed, and may straddle the 02-03 November (UTC) transition. G3 conditions were observed last rotation from this feature. Consequently, the G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm watch issued for 02 November has been extended to include 03 November. A G2 (Moderate) watch has been issued for 04 November.” This means the solar storm is expected to start after 7pm this evening, and will last over the next 48 hours.

The good news is the clouds will not be an issue this evening for the viewing. Our team will be out this evening, so keep checking back to our Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest updates as we will let you know when to head out and take a look!