Will it still be possible to see the northern lights from NJ on Monday night?

Manahil Ahmad, NorthJersey.com
·2 min read

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch starting Friday that continued through the weekend. It led to the northern lights being visible this past weekend for much of the United States, including some views from New Jersey.

This watch is the first of its kind in nearly 20 years. If you missed it this weekend, will you have another chance Monday?

Will the northern lights be visible tonight?

Unfortunately the answer appears to be no. According to the National Weather Service, with some early morning fog and cloudy weather, the northern lights might not be visible to those in New Jersey.

Meteorologist Michael Silva said it looks like a hit or miss situation. "The clouds are relatively clear right now, but we're seeing an increase in them past midnight," he said. "I would lean against it."

Furthermore, the northern lights often don't last past 2 a.m., so the odds for viewing across the state are slim.

What are the northern lights?

NOAA says a big cluster of sunspots has been throwing out several strong solar flares since Wednesday. About five of these flares were linked to coronal mass ejections, which are blasts of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun's surface. These CMEs seem to be headed our way and could cause geomagnetic storms.

"Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations," NOAA officials said on their website. "Space Weather Prediction Center has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action."

"Geomagnetic storms can also trigger spectacular displays of aurora on Earth," officials continued. "A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen as far south as Alabama and Northern California."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Can you see the northern lights tonight from North Jersey?