Northern lights forecast: Aurora could reach as far south as Alabama Monday night
Bundle up, because the northern lights are forecast to ignite in the winter sky on Monday night across a large area of the United States.
The northern lights can be stunning in person but tricky to capture on camera. Meteorologist Tony Laubach breaks down how to photograph auroras using your phone with easy step-by-step settings.
Monday night could bring the best chance in months to see the northern lights, with the aurora glowing over dozens of states.
On Sunday, the sun unleashed a powerful eruption that sent a cloud of charged particles, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), racing toward Earth. When it arrives on Monday night or early Tuesday, it will create dazzling displays of the aurora in areas where the lights are rare.
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center issued a "Severe" geomagnetic storm watch for Monday night, with the event expected to reach a level 4 out of 5 on NOAA's space weather scale.
People as far south as Alabama and Northern California may be able to see the aurora during the peak of the event, according to NOAA. Farther south, cameras may pick up the faint color even if the lights are hard to see with the naked eye.
The northern lights seen from Gillette, Wyoming on Oct. 5, 2024. (Image credit: Tony Laubach/AccuWeather)
It will be a cold night for skywatching, as temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing across the majority of the United States on Monday night. Low temperatures below zero across some of the Midwest and the Dakotas and Nebraska.
Cloud cover may end up being the biggest make-or-break factor. The best viewing conditions are predicted in part of the Ohio Valley, Kansas and Nebraska as well as most areas west of the Rocky Mountains.
For many viewers, the aurora may look like a green glow near the northern horizon. Farther north and into Canada, the lights can stretch higher in the sky and, during stronger bursts, may appear nearly overhead.
The light show is likely to be a one-night event, although the aurora could linger into Tuesday night in parts of Canada and the far northern U.S.
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The solar flare also sparked a severe radiation storm, the strongest one since October 2003.
Radiation storms of this magnitude can increase radiation exposure for astronauts on the International Space Station and for people on flights that take routes closer to the poles, according to NOAA.
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