Topline
More states in the northern U.S. will have an opportunity to observe the northern lights on Friday, as an incoming geomagnetic storm will likely pull the phenomenon further south, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (See updated forecast for Saturday).
Forecasters suggest an incoming geomagnetic storm will likely bring the northern lights to more ... [+]
Key Facts
NOAA forecast a Kp index of five on a scale of nine for Friday night, indicating the northern lights will be seen further south from the North Pole and be “quite pleasing to look at” for those in the right area.
The agency expects a minor or greater geomagnetic storm—a disturbance of Earth’s magnetic field—on Saturday, which increases the likelihood of northern lights displays being visible to more people, as the effects of a recent coronal mass ejection reach Earth, according to NOAA’s three-day forecast.
A Kp index of five is also forecast for Saturday, though geomagnetic activity is expected to weaken by Sunday to a Kp index of just over three, NOAA said.
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Where Will The Northern Lights Be Visible?
Northern Canada and most of Alaska will have a higher chance of viewing aurora borealis than states just north of the view line, which sweeps just below the Canadian border. Northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, northern Montana, North Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan have a lower chance, while Wyoming, South Dakota, northern Iowa, northern New York, northern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have an even lower likelihood. (See view line below.)
Friday night's view line.
What’s The Best Way To See The Northern Lights?
NOAA recommends traveling to a high vantage point away from light pollution between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. The northern lights display may be seen from as much as 620 miles away if conditions are optimal.
What’s The Best Way To Photograph The Northern Lights?
Smartphone cameras can capture auroral activity if night mode is enabled, even if the event isn’t visible to the naked eye, according to NASA. A regular camera with a wide-angle lens, high ISO value and focus set to the farthest possible setting can also capture the phenomenon.
Key Background
NASA said a “solar maximum” was reached in October 2024, marking an increased rate of space weather events responsible for auroral activity, including coronal mass ejections. Activity on the sun’s surface gradually increases and decreases over 11-year periods, achieving a “solar maximum” and a “solar minimum.” Electrons from coronal mass ejections—a bubble of plasma that bursts from the sun’s surface—interact with nitrogen and oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, producing the colorful displays of auroral borealis after the atoms and molecules of those gases become “excited” and release photons, or small particles of light. The strongest northern lights displays in the “past 500 years” likely occurred in May, according to NASA, after the agency measured the strongest geomagnetic storm to reach the Earth in two decades. That event pulled the northern lights as far south as Texas and northern Florida.
