Northern Lights Forecast: 10 States May See Coronal Mass Ejection Arrive This Weekend

Forbes

21 hours ago

The Northern Lights may be visible in the U.S. this weekend, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center, which is predicting aurora may be potentially glimpsed from 10 U.S. states on Saturday, June 7.
It comes in the wake of a coronal mass ejection — a cloud of super-charged particles — departing the sun on Tuesday, June 3. A CME takes a few days to travel from the sun to Earth, but exactly when it arrives is always difficult to accurately predict.
'By mid to late on 07 Jun, a glancing blow from the 03 Jun CME is expected to cause an enhancement in magnetic field parameters,' reads a forecast from NOAA. 'By mid to late on 07 Jun, G1 (Minor) storm conditions are likely with the arrival of the 03 Jun CME.'
It all comes just days after a rare G4 geomagnetic storm that lit up June skies worldwide last weekend, with bright auroras across the world after a 'fast halo CME' arrived. There is currently an Earth-facing coronal hole on the sun — a large hole in its atmosphere where magnetic fields can escape — that is creating a fast-moving and turbulent stream of solar wind to move in the direction of Earth.
A G1 geomagnetic storm on Saturday, June 7, may have aurora visible from northern U.S. states. 'Migratory animals are affected at this and higher levels; aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine),' according to NOAA, though its aurora view line has the phenomenon potentially visible from 10 states.
The parts of U.S. states that could potentially see aurora, according to NOAA, include northern Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, northeastern Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, northeastern New York and northern Maine.
According to NOAA, the aurora does not need to be directly overhead. It can be seen from as much as 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away 'when the aurora is bright and if conditions are right.' That will mean, at the very least, clear skies and an observing location away from light pollution — with a dark northern horizon particularly important.
Before heading out to look for aurora, check the latest weather as well as space weather forecasts, including NOAA's 30-minute forecast and the Glendale App. Both services use data from NASA's DSCOVR and ACE satellites, which orbit about a million miles out and measure the solar wind's speed and magnetic intensity. They give a roughly 30-minute warning of aurora displays.
The Northern Lights are caused by the solar wind, a stream of charged particles from the sun interacting with Earth's magnetic field. Its charged particles accelerate along the magnetic field lines toward the polar regions, where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms, exciting them and causing them to release energy as light.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.