Overhead northern lights in MN possible with rare G4 solar storm watch

A massive flare erupted on the sun early Wednesday and released solar material and magnetic fields that will strike the Earth's outer atmosphere and cause a solar storm that could deliver a vibrant display of the northern lights on Thursday night into Friday.

The northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, could be visible overhead everywhere in Minnesota, and even as far south Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. Typically, overhead displays of the auroras are only visible in Canada and the Arctic Circle, but more powerful solar storms like the one on its way can bring the lights further south.

In May, Earth was struck by the largest solar storm since Halloween 2003 when multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs) blasted into our planet and caused a G5 storm.

The incoming solar storm has prompted a G4 solar storm watch, which marks only the second such watch from NOAA since 2005. The other watch was issued ahead of the May event.

Solar storms are rated on a scale from G1 to G5, with G5 being extreme and posing the risk of knocking out GPS, communication devices and electrical grids. The world hadn't been hit with a G5 solar storm in more than 19 years before the May storm.

This past week has provided northern lights throughout Minnesota almost every night, with people even in the well-lit Twin Cities metro seeing hues of green and red on the horizon. If the storm Thursday night is as strong as the Space Weather Prediction Center anticipates, people all over Minnesota might be able to walk outside and look up to see the geomagnetic storm dancing in the sky.

That said, it's better to get away from city lights for an ideal viewing experience.

Another pro tip is to turn on your cellphone camera and look through it at the sky. Cameras can capture more color details than the human eye is capable of in low-light conditions.

All of this begs the obvious question: Will the clouds in Minnesota cooperate?

The forecast from the National Weather Service calls for partly cloudy skies Thursday night. Cloud cover is likely going to be an issue to some degree, but no one will know for sure until they step outside and look up.