Northern Lights Friday Night

Friday night is one of the best opportunities we have had for watching the Northern Lights in recent years. Skies will be mostly clear after 10 PM (which is when optimal viewing time will start). Any isolated thundershowers that pass through will likely be out of the area by 10 PM.

In addition, the Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch. There is a Geomagnetic Storm Scale that is used by the Space Weather Prediction Center, and these auroras will be at a G4 out of G5 rating Friday evening, which indicates a severe geomagnetic storm. It’s the first time any of this has happened since 2005.

Locally, odds are we will be able to see the auroras on the horizon. We might even be able to see them overhead. There is potential that the auroras will be visible as far south as states such as Missouri, Kentucky, and North Carolina to name a few, but it is not guaranteed to be viewed THAT far south.