Americans as far south as Alabama and Northern California could be treated to a spectacle of the northern Lights this weekend of a powerful geomagnetic storm heading toward Earth, officials said. If weather conditions permit, people in wider areas of the map could look up and see the northern Lights.
The storm has prompted government forecasters to warn of potential disruptions to communications systems, the power grid and satellite operations, but it could also produce a fantastic light show in the night sky.
“If you’re in an area where it’s dark, cloudless, and relatively unpolluted by light, you might be able to see a pretty impressive aurora, and that’s really the gift of space weather, that is the aurora,” said Rob Steenburgh, a researcher. a space scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center said Friday morning.
Northern lights map for Friday evening
A map of the center shows that auroras can be visible for much of the time. northern half of the United States Friday evening. A red line on the map indicates how far south the aurora forecast goes.
The St. Louis office of the National Weather Service said area residents should leave the city for the best possible chance of viewing the Northern Lights.
“Move away from city lights to a dark, rural environment and look north,” the office says. said on social media. “Apart from a few clouds associated with the passage of a front, most of the weather appears clear.”
The prediction center notes on its website that you don’t have to be directly under the aurora to see it. Instead, it can be observed up to 620 miles away.
The San Francisco Bay Area Weather Service office was less optimistic when asked if there was a chance of putting on a nighttime show there.
“Probably not, but I will still look up when walking my dog,” the office says. said.
Northern lights map for Saturday evening
Friday evening isn’t the only opportunity to see an aurora borealis show. The storm was expected to last through the weekend and the forecast center released a forecast map for Saturday evening.
Authorities said residents in the southern United States who can’t see the auroras with the naked eye can still take dazzling photos with their phones.
“Cell phones are much better than our eyes at picking up light,” Brent Gordon of the Space Weather Prediction Center told reporters Friday. “Just go out the back door and take a photo with a newer cell phone, and you’d be amazed at what you see in that photo versus what you see with your eyes.”
Stunning photos showed the brilliant display of the Northern Lights over Europe and the UK after dark on Friday.
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