These 17 States From Alabama to California May Get to See the Northern Lights

Yahoo

3 days ago

The Northern Lights may be visible in at least 17 U.S. states on June 1 and 2, 2025, the result of a powerful geomagnetic storm.
The Space Weather Prediction Center has posted maps on its website showing the areas where the Northern Lights should be visible.
It will likely be the "biggest display of the northern lights since 2024," according to Accuweather.
The states with the best chance of seeing the northern lights are along the northern border of the U.S. The northern lights may appear by midday on June 1.
The aurora 'may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California,' the center says. 'Detrimental impacts to some of our critical infrastructure technology are possible.' Watches 'at this level are very rare.'
The states that will likely be able to see the northern lights, as long as the weather is clear, are, according to the center's maps: North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Washington, Idaho, New York, Alaska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Montana. Adding in Alabama and California, that's at least 17 states.
"A G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for 2 June. A powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the Sun the evening of 30 May. The CME is anticipated to arrive at Earth later on Sunday, 1 June," the center wrote.
The conditions "become more possible on Monday, 2 June," but the storm levels "will likely begin subsiding by Tuesday 3 June," the center added.
"The Aurora is also called the Northern Lights in the northern hemisphere and Southern Lights in the southern hemisphere. The technical term for the Northern Lights is Aurora Borealis and the Southern lights are called the Aurora Australis," the center's website explains.
"The word Aurora was first used by Galileo and comes from Latin and is the name of the goddess of dawn. The word Borealis comes from the Latin word boreal which means 'northern' or 'from the north.' The word Australis is Latin for austral, which means 'southern,'" it adds.
The center explains, "The aurora is formed from interactions between the solar wind streaming out from the sun and Earth's protective magnetic field, or magnetosphere. The aurora is one manifestation of geomagnetic activity or geomagnetic storms."
"As the solar wind increases in speed and the interplanetary magnetic field embedded in the solar wind turns southward, the geomagnetic activity will increase and the aurora will become brighter, more active, and move further from the poles. Even moderate solar wind creates aurora so there is usually a weak aurora somewhere even when there isn't a big geomagnetic storm."
The center also has a page of tips for viewing the northern lights.
These 17 States From Alabama to California May Get to See the Northern Lights first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 1, 2025