The northern lights could make another appearance across parts of the United States Wednesday night, with people in nine states having at least a chance of seeing the aurora borealis.
According to a forecast highlighted by Forbes and based on NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, the best opportunities outside Alaska are expected across northern portions of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Most of Alaska is also within the projected aurora zone, although the late summer sunset there could make viewing more difficult.
For most of the states along the U.S.-Canada border, NOAA describes the likelihood as low, meaning this is not expected to be one of those dramatic aurora events visible deep into the country. Still, under dark enough skies, people in the northernmost areas could catch the familiar green glow on the northern horizon.
The aurora is created when charged particles from the Sun interact with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Those collisions can produce curtains and waves of green, red and purple light, with stronger geomagnetic activity sometimes pushing the display farther south than usual.
NOAA’s aurora tools are updated as conditions change, and its short-term forecast can provide a better picture closer to viewing time. The agency notes that aurora visibility depends not only on geomagnetic activity but also on darkness, cloud cover and local light pollution.
For anyone hoping to see it, the basic rule is simple: find the darkest place possible, get away from city lights and look toward the northern horizon after nightfall.
New Jersey is not currently among the nine states highlighted for Wednesday night, so this does not appear to be an NJ aurora event. But for people farther north, the sky may offer a little extra color tonight.
Source: Forbes; NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.
By NJ RADAR Team