Northern Lights Could be Visible in 20 States After New Alert

Millions of people in the United States could be in for a treat this week night as conditions could be right to produce “auroral displays” visible in skies throughout several states in the country, bringing colorful displays of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) to the night skies.

This week, experts expect that conditions could be right for a geomagnetic storm that could result in visible auroral displays for some northern and upper Midwest states "from New York to Idaho."

Possibility of Auroral Displays

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a geomagnetic storm watch, announcing that G3-class geomagnetic storms are possible this week, which could produce visible auroral displays.

"A coronal mass ejection (CME) is an eruption of solar material and magnetic fields. When they arrive at Earth, a geomagnetic storm can result," the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center wrote in a post on X.

"A CME is anticipated to affect Earth with elevated geomagnetic response and dependent upon the orientation of the embedded magnetic field, potential exists for Moderate Storm levels," the post added.

The NOAA added that “G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storming is likely, with a chance for isolated periods of G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storming, on 19 Mar with the arrival of the 16 Mar CME.”

Conditions Could Be Right

In addition to the possibility of a strong geomagnetic storm, there are a few other things that could help create ideal condtions for viewing the northern lights.

For starters, a new moon on March 19 will allow for a extra dark night sky that will be ideal for viewing the colorful auroras if they are indeed visitble. Additionally, the time of the year could increase the possibility of auroral displays.

The spring equinox on March 20 makes auroras statistically much more likely due to something called the Russell-McPherron effect.

"During the equinoxes, the orientation of the Earth's poles is (almost) perpendicular to that of the Sun," Dr Ciaran Beggan, a geophysicist at the British Geological Survey, explained to Newsweek. 

“This maximizes the 'coupling' between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field. In summer or winter, one of the Earth's poles is pointing at an angle from the solar wind so the coupling between them is lower and hence there are fewer storms on average.”

Where Will It Be Visible

According to the NOAA’s aurora view line, the northern lights could be visible in up to 20 U.S. states near the Canada border. States with the best chance include Alaska and as well as the more northern portions of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine.

Depending on conditions, faint auroras could be visible low on the northern horizon in the northern regions of Oregon, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.

These displays could be visible in the night sky on Wednesday, March 18, through Thursday, March 19.