The northern lights were barely visible in L.A. Amazing images show what we missed
The northern lights made a rare appearance in the California skies over the weekend, when much of the Northern Hemisphere was treated to a dazzling celestial light show.
While many Northern Californians reveled in the spectacle, however, much of Southern California was left out of the fun. The urban night skies were so bright, it was impossible to detect the hues created by the charged solar particles hitting the Earth's atmosphere.
Those who did leave the light-polluted cities of the Southland were able to soak in the northern lights at parks such as Angeles National Forest. If you didn't, not to worry — here are some of the sights from the weekend.
The video above from UCSD shows the aurora borealis as seen Friday night into early Saturday from the Mt. Wilson Observatory. It comprises 1,350 images taken in 10-second increments.
Caused by a solar storm expert Shawn Dahl called "a very rare event," the lights were visible at observatories as far south as the Mexican border. But they were better observed in Northern California, as shown by the photo below.
The solar discharges that caused the nighttime displays were so intense, they led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue its first severe geomagnetic storm watch since 2005.
Though the aurora borealis is harmless eye candy, some of the particles flung at high speed by the sun towards earth can disrupt electronics on earth and in orbit.
Some power grids were affected and GPS signals disrupted, according to NOAA.
In Oregon, the lights shone even brighter than in California, as seen in the photo above. But don't tell that to the intrepid folks who found places to see the pinks and purples in Southern California.
"I still feel like it was a dream," photographer Patrick Coyne wrote on Instagram after capturing stunning images of the lights from Angeles National Forest.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
