Parts of the US could catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights this Thanksgiving

November 29, 2024

While Thanksgiving may be chilly and rainy in many places around the country, solar storms could provide a glimpse of the Northern Lights for some in the United States

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), mild to moderate geomagnetic storms are likely on Thursday and Friday due to a filamentous eruption on Monday that saw the sun shoot a cloud of high-energy plasma toward Earth.

This outbreak now raises the possibility that the night sky in the United States could glow in shades of green, red and purple for the Thanksgiving holiday.

How bright the auroras are and how long they stay in the sky depends on how strong the solar storms become and whether they even reach G1 or G2 conditions, NOAA meteorologist Mike Bettwy said in an email.

“It is not expected to be a large-scale event, it is likely to last for a short period of time and could be quite weak in the affected locations,” Bettwy said.

Those in states like Washington, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine are poised to see the northern lights this holiday weekend, and those in the northern parts of Idaho, Wyoming, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire have a chance Also interested in seeing the Aurora Borealis, according to NOAA.

The auroras will most likely be visible Thursday evening into early Friday, when NOAA experts predict light (G1) and moderate (G2) geomagnetic storms, although it’s not clear exactly when and where the sky will light up.

Viewers who want to take a look can follow the latest activity and forecasts on NOAA’s Aurora Dashboard. It also provides short-term forecasts of the Northern Lights, including maps of where it will be visible and experimental tools for estimating its intensity.

When the weather is clear, it’s best to take a look at the bright lights. Cloudy areas are expected to limit viewing opportunities across much of the Northeast and New England, as well as near the Great Lakes, Bettwy said.

Unlike stronger solar storms that gave many people in the U.S. a glimpse of the northern lights earlier in the year, Bettwy said this time, major disruptions to communications systems in the country are not expected unless the storms prove more severe predicted.

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are usually only seen at high altitudes, but sufficiently intense solar storms can make them visible in areas much further south than normal.

These solar storms occur when coronal mass ejections, or flares, from the sun send huge clouds of plasma into space. When these plasma clouds are directed toward Earth, the plumes of charged particles hit the planet’s magnetic field and interact with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating brilliant auroras.

The Sun goes through approximately 11-year cycles of activity, from minimum to maximum. According to NOAA, it is preparing for an expected peak next July, which is why there have been several occasions this year when the northern lights have been visible this far south.

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