Thanksgiving may be cool and rainy in many spots across the country, but solar storms could offer a glimpse at the northern lights for some in the U.S. Minor to moderate geomagnetic storms are likely Thursday and Friday due to a filament eruption on Monday, with high-energy plasma being shot towards Earth. The auroras could light up night skies in green, red, and purple hues during the holiday weekend. Areas such as Washington, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine are poised to see the northern lights, with northern parts of Idaho, Wyoming, New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire also having a chance. The auroras are most likely to be visible Thursday evening until early Friday, depending on the strength of the solar storms.
Viewers can track the latest activity and forecast on NOAA’s Aurora Dashboard, which offers short-term forecasts and maps of where the northern lights will be visible. Clear conditions are best for viewing, but areas of cloudiness may limit visibility in the Northeast and New England, and near the Great Lakes. Unlike stronger solar storms earlier this year, it is not expected to cause major disruptions to communication systems unless the storms are more significant than predicted. Solar storms occur when coronal mass ejections from the sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, creating radiant auroras. The sun goes through 11-year cycles of activity, with an expected peak next July, leading to more opportunities to see the northern lights in the future.
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