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Northern Lights may be visible in Michigan on Friday
FOX 2's Derek Kevra explains how the Northern Lights form ahead of potential sightings Friday night.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - The Northern Lights could appear in the northern half of the United States on Friday night, including here in Michigan.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, there's a chance of seeing the aurora as far south as Alabama overnight and into early Saturday. Much of Michigan is supposed to be partly cloudy on Friday, so that could hinder the sight of the lights.
15 March 2023, Saxony-Anhalt, Magdeburg: Auroras appear in the sky on the outskirts of Magdeburg. During the night, auroras could be observed on the outskirts of the city of Magdeburg on the highway 14. These shone in an iridescent green to red. Alre …
On Thursday, NOAA forcecasted a severe solar storm fueled by solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) that began on May 8. According to NOAA, CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona. They cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth.
'Severe' solar storm could trigger Northern Lights as far south as Alabama Friday night
NOAA upped the Geomagnetic Storm Watch from Moderate to Severe for Friday through Sunday. This is the first Severe Watch in 19 years. That could grace the northern tier skies with auroras but also trigger GPS problems, hamper satellite communication and black out high-frequency radio.
The most recent CMEs are expected to make the Northern Lights visible Friday night, and additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend.
This is the first time NOAA has issued a severe geometric storm watch since January 2005. Only three severe geomagnetic storms have been observed since the current solar cycle started in December 2019, NOAA said.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured these images of the solar flares — as seen in the bright flashes in the left image (May 8 flare) and the right image (May 7 flare). The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the e … (NASA/SDO / NOAA)
Aside from the beauty of Aurora Borealis, it could disrupt communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.
When the time to see the lights is near, use this 30-minute aurora forecast to see where it is.
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