Strong Northern Lights Forecast: These 12 States Could See Aurora Borealis Tonight
The aurora borealis could light up skies in northern states Tuesday night thanks to a minor geomagnetic storm that will push the Kp index to five in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted a small-scale geomagnetic storm to arrive overnight Tuesday as a stream of fast-moving solar wind from an opening in the sun's atmosphere, called a coronal hole, reaches Earth.
When those charged particles interact with Earth's magnetic field, they can produce the northern lights and make them visible farther south than usual, per NOAA.
NOAA forecast a Kp index of four on a scale of nine, Tuesday and five on Wednesday, reflecting the expected moderate geomagnetic storm.
NOAA’s predicted viewline for Tuesday covers Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Maine and northern parts of Washington, Idaho, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.
The best chance of seeing the lights usually comes between between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, according to NOAA. Hopeful viewers should travel as far north as possible to a high, north-facing vantage point away from light pollution.
Those using an iPhone should use night mode and those with an Android should use the device’s Pro mode. All smartphone photographers should disable flash and shoot in RAW image format. Those using a separate camera could set the aperture or F-stop to four or less and use a focus set to the furthest possible setting. All photographers should use a tripod for stabilizing the image.
The northern lights have been unusually visible across the U.S. in the last two years as the sun approaches the peak of its 11-year activity cycle, known as solar maximum. During periods of heightened solar activity, stronger bursts of charged particles from the sun can interact with Earth’s magnetic field and allow the aurora to be seen much farther south than normal. The level of solar activity surpassed scientists’ expectations, NASA has said, and several major geomagnetic storms since 2024 have produced rare displays visible across dozens of states, drawing millions of skywatchers and photographers. Auroral activity is expected to decline throughout the latter half of the decade as the sun exits its maximum period.