(WKBN) – The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, will try to put on a light show in parts of the United States tonight.
Where can I see the Northern Lights?
The best location in the United States to see the northern lights tonight will be across the extreme northern edge of the country.
Most of the region will stay cloud free for good viewing overnight.
Where you can catch a possible glimpse of the northern lights:
Northern Montana, North Dakota, Northern South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Northern Michigan will be the best locations to catch the northern lighs.
The best chance to see them is north of the red “View Line” in the image below.
Will Ohio and Pennsylvania see the Northern Lights?
Viewing the northern lights in Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania is not expected as the best viewing will be north of our region. We will also have clouds around and rain or snow showers overnight which would limit our viewing anyway.
See what the weather is doing right now and how long the clouds will stick around in tonight’s forecast.
What is a Geomagnetic Storm?
According to NOAA, a geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth.
The storms are created from changes and variations within the solar wind. This can cause a disruption in the Earth’s magnetosphere. The entire process is transferring energy from the solar wind into the Earth’s magnetosphere.
These storms can cause voltage problems with power systems. Spacecraft operations can be impacted. Radio and satellite systems can be impacted, too.
NOAA Space Weather uses a scale to communicate to the general public the current and future space weather conditions. These scales will indicate the possible effects of the storm.
