Northern lights may be seen in some US states
If seeing the northern lights is on your bucket list, you might just be in luck. The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, could appear over 16 U.S. states on July 13.
The natural phenomenon is usually caused by solar winds coming from the sun and Earth’s magnetic field, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
“Aurora is the name given to the glow or light produced when electrons from space flow down Earth’s magnetic field and collide with atoms and molecules of the upper atmosphere in a ring or oval centered on the magnetic pole of Earth,” the website says. “The collisions produce light much like how electrons flowing through gas in a neon light collide with neon and other gases to produce different colored light bulbs.”
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute forecasts that auroral activity will be high next Thursday, with highly active light displays visible in parts of Canada and the U.S.
The northern lights could be visible in northern parts of 16 states if the weather is clear.
Activity will be high, weather permitting, across northern Canada as well as Vancouver, British Columbia; Helena, Montana; Minneapolis; Milwaukee; Bay City, Michigan; Toronto; Montpelier, Vermont; and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; and visible low on the horizon from Salem, Oregon; Boise, Idaho; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Lincoln, Nebraska; Indianapolis and Annapolis, Maryland, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute’s forecast said.
The best chance of viewing the aurora borealis is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, the Space Weather Prediction Center says. People interested in seeing them should get away from city lights.
The higher the geomagnetic activity, the brighter the aurora. As the day approaches, NOAA will monitor the activity and release a forecast of its own.
In late April, a geomagnetic storm created lights that were visible in 30 U.S. states. The aurora could be seen in parts of Iowa, North Dakota and Kansas.