Mark Thiessen / AP
Several states across the northern U.S. may have a chance of seeing the northern lights Saturday as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects geomagnetic storm conditions to impact Earth’s magnetic field.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a watch for a G2 storm — the second-lowest rating on a scale from G1 to G5 — for Saturday from 3:32 p.m. EDT into late Saturday evening at 10 p.m. EDT for areas as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington state.
A G1 storm was also issued by the NOAA for areas such as northern Michigan and Maine for Saturday afternoon until Saturday evening.
On Friday night, the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, were visible in parts of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota and more states across the U.S.
NOAA
The aurora borealis occurs when a molecular collision in the upper levels of Earth’s atmosphere causes bursts of energy to be released in the form of visible light, according to the NOAA.
The NOAA reported its strongest rating in years of a G5 in May 2024 during periods of “severe-extreme” geomagnetic storms. Millions of people in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and beyond were able to view the glow of the northern lights.
