Aurora chasers, it’s time to charge up your cameras, don your hats and gloves, and get ready for a long night looking up at the sky. The year’s best northern lights display could happen this week, starting as early as November 11—and you might be able to see it across the continental United States.
The northern lights occur when charged particles from the sun impact the Earth and react with our magnetic field. Those particles can burst forth from the sun via various events, including coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or eruptions of plasma and magnetic fields that often occur alongside solar flares. Since November 9, five major X-class solar flares—the most powerful type of solar flare—erupted from the sun, including the largest one of the year at X5.1 intensity. Now, Earth is bracing for the impact of three associated CMEs.
When such emissions are inbound, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issues geomagnetic storm watches on a scale of G1 to G5. For these recent solar events, it has issued a G2 geomagnetic storm watch for Tuesday, November 11, a G4 watch for Wednesday, November 12, and a G3 watch for Thursday, November 13. Keep in mind that SWPC uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is hours ahead of US time zones. In the US, the northern lights are expected to peak the night of November 11 and November 12. Here’s everything aurora-hunters need to know.
Where can you see the northern lights in the US?
If you’re hoping to see the northern lights this week, the best thing to do is go to the darkest place you can find with clear views to the north after sunset. The farther south you are, the lower the northern lights will be on the horizon. Additionally, a weak display might not be visible to the naked eye, but it might show up on a camera—hold up your phone to the night sky, and you might be surprised.
“During a G4 geomagnetic storm, we may see the auroral ovals expand to lower latitudes and places in the central US may see naked-eye auroral displays throughout the night,” aurora photographer and space weather Ph.D student Vincent Ledvina wrote on X. “The US-Mexico border latitude could even see red glows on-camera during big flareups called substorms.”
Some of the best places in the contiguous US to see the northern lights (beyond Alaska) include Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, and Glacier National Park in Montana. Even if the auroras decide not to show, officially designated Dark Sky Places like Big Bend National Park in Texas and Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida promise prime stargazing and outdoor adventure regardless.
When will the northern lights be visible?
As always, when it comes to the northern lights, some expectation setting is in order. SWPC’s watch is simply a forecast for geomagnetic activity, so there’s a chance the northern lights will underperform.
