In this news:
Northern lights tonight? Aurora shine in the night sky above a road in the district of ... More Märkisch-Oderland in East Brandenburg on April 16, 2025 in Brandenburg, Germany. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
The Northern Lights may be visible in the U.S. on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center, aurora could be visible during a G2-rated geomagnetic storm. It comes the day after the peak of a major meteor shower.
Northern Lights Forecast: Where To See Aurora In The U.S. This Week
The latest forecast is for a geomagnetic storm this week, with a “moderate” G2 geomagnetic storm striking on Tuesday, April 22 and Wednesday, April 23, with aurora displays possible in northern U.S. states — from Maine to Washington — as well as Canada and northern Europe.
U.S. states may see the aurora on the northern horizon, though Alaska and those on the U.S.-Canada border will have a higher chance.
The Kp index — which provides a rough guide to the intensity of aurora displays — may reach 5 or 6, which will see the auroral oval stretch farther south. Kp 5 or 6 equates to a G2-class geomagnetic storm. The geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024, which saw aurora as far south as Florida, was rated a G5. It was the most powerful since 2003.
ForbesNorthern Lights: How Not To Miss The Aurora During ‘Solar Maximum’By Jamie Carter
Northern Lights Forecast: When To See Aurora In The U.S. This Week
Predicting the arrival of the aurora is difficult. Data comes to space weather forecasters from NASA’s DSCOVR and ACE satellites, which orbit the sun about a million miles from Earth and give around a 30-minute warning of potential spikes in activity.
.png)
