Northern lights visible in Michigan Thursday night, space forecasters say

Derek Kevra explains how the Northern Lights form

Last week's Aurora Borealis was visible over northern Michigan. Derek Kevra explains how the sun helps with the Northern Lights.

(FOX 2) - There's a good chance the northern lights will be visible in Michigan on Thursday night and Friday morning after the National Weather Service observed a large solar storm emerging from the sun.

Space forecasters are predicting a strong geomagnetic storm for the next day after multiple flares blasted out of the sun. Called coronal mass ejections, they are often associated with disrupting Earth's magnetic field - and sending the aurora borealis further south.

The northern lights may be visible the night of Nov. 30 if weather conditions are favorable, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's prediction center for space weather said.

A news release from NOAA said forecasters observed three mass ejections on Nov. 27 and a fourth larger ejection on Nov. 28. The speed of the fourth ejection will likely move faster, eventually merging with the earlier three ejections before arriving at Earth overnight.

Forecasters issued a Level 3 Geomagnetic Storm Watch, which carries a "strong" designation. NOAA's solar storm scale spans from 1 (minor) to 5 (extreme).

Under the G 3 level, voltage in power systems could be disrupted, spacecraft operations could be impacted, as well as satellite navigation and low-frequency radio transmissions. During previous G 3 storms, the northern lights have been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon.

MORE: What creates the rare red and green colors seen in the northern lights?

Shawn Dahl with NOAA said people and equipment won't be impacted by the incoming storm. He also there's a good chance residents in Michigan will have a chance to see the northern lights, assuming the weather obeys.

"The northern lights could easily be seen in Michigan - most certainly, we should be able to see it on our northern horizon if the moon isn't a factor and there are no clouds," he said. "If we get there, people even in southern Michigan may have a chance."

Guaging the intensity of a solar storm can be tricky since only one spacecraft monitors activity traveling toward the Earth from the sun. If it detects anything, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) will notify NOAA about 15-30 minutes before activity picks up in the Earth's atmosphere.

Check here for the latest updates on the solar storm.

A large solar flare as seen from the Solar Ultraviolet Imager on NOAA's GOES-16 satellite on November 28, 2023 (NOAA Satellites)

How Northern Lights form

Visibility of the Northern Lights increases when charged particles on the surface of the earth come into contact with solar flares. These charged particles race off at over 6.7 million miles per hour and interact with earth's atmosphere, creating the beautiful colors that are associated with the aurora borealis.

But recently some citizen scientists took pictures and videos of a rare aurora color combination that is making scientists change the way they think about the Northern Lights.