Northern US residents, go ahead and brave the outdoor chill this Monday or Tuesday night to catch a glimpse of the breathtaking aurora borealis. NOAA is currently predicting that a geomagnetic storm will impact Earth on Monday and Tuesday, which will push the northern lights down into the northern US.
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This bout of aurora borealis comes to Earth courtesy of a coronal mass ejection from the sun on Dec. 6. Coronal mass ejections are massive bursts of plasma and other solar materials that are forcibly ejected from the sun. These events occur fairly consistently when the sun is at its solar maximum, which it will be through the end of the year and into 2026. The M8-class solar flare is expected to impact Earth in the early hours of Dec. 9.
NOAA is predicting auroras on both Monday and Tuesday night thanks to a G3 magnetic storm.
How far will the aurora reach?
NOAA is predicting that the aurora will be visible in Washington state, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It may also be visible in Oregon, Nebraska, Wyoming, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, if you can get high enough and look north. The very northern reaches of Indiana, Illinois, and New York may also see some action. As always, Alaska and Canada offer the best view.
Tuesday night’s aurora will be weaker than Monday night’s, but it will still be largely visible in the same list of states.
This round of aurora borealis isn’t predicted to be quite as far-reaching as the massive aurora that hit in early November. Those were caused by X-Class coronal mass ejections, which are a level above the M-Class that is expected to hit Earth on Monday and Tuesday. Aurora predictions are much like the weather, so they may change depending on whether the geomagnetic storm is weaker or stronger than its current forecast.
Tips for watching the aurora borealis
Your standard aurora-watching tips all apply for this one. You’ll want to get as high as you can and face north to get your best view of the aurora from your location. The further away you are from the Canadian border, the higher up you’ll need to go to see it. You will also want to get out of the city and suburbia to minimize light pollution.
The bad news is that December’s full moon, which was also a supermoon, was just a few days ago, so it’s still mostly full in the night sky. The light pollution from the moon will almost certainly harm your ability to see the northern lights, especially if you’re in one of the southernmost states in NOAA’s prediction area.
Should you decide to head out, keep an eye out for meteors as well. The Geminids meteor shower began on Dec. 4 and is nearing its peak on Dec. 13-14, so you may see a few shooting stars while you’re out looking for the aurora.
