Chance to see Northern Lights Friday night in Mid-Michigan
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — For the first time since 2005, the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued a rare G4 Geomagnetic Storm Watch.
The watch was issued after a large cluster of sunspots, 16 times the size of Earth, produced moderate to strong solar flares starting early Wednesday morning. This series of solar flares means that a good portion of the country could see the northern lights, or aurora borealis, this weekend.
How can Solar Flares create the Northern Lights?
According to the SWPC, at least five earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are in transit. If these storms enter Earth’s magnetic field, which they are not guaranteed to do, they interact with the oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere and produce the northern lights.
The previously mentioned CMEs are expected to arrive as early as today and persist through Sunday.
The geomagnetic storm scale ranged from G1 to G5. Currently, the officials at the SWPC believe the emitted solar flares are strong enough to warrant a G4 watch, which is incredibly rare. But, it means the northern lights could be seen as far south as Alabama. However, the true strength of the storm won’t be known until around 8 pm, when the ejections are about a million miles from Earth.
Will Mid-Michigan be able to see the northern lights?
The northern lights are expected tonight into Saturday morning. Normally, the best time for viewing is between midnight and 4 am.
Unfortunately, we have cloud cover and the chance for rain moving into Mid-Michigan tonight. However, there is a small chance for a few breaks in the cloud cover before the rain showers move in around 2 – 3 o’clock.
If you happen to get lucky and catch a glimpse, feel free to share it with us at wlns.com/share.
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