Northern lights in the night sky dazzle Philly region

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Did you see them? The northern lights lit up the sky worldwide, including across the Philadelphia area, on Thursday night — and if you missed the sight, you might have another opportunity to behold them.

Those streaks of pink and purple light in the night sky were caused by a geomagnetic storm, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Center describes as “a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth.”

While those storms can illuminate the skies with Aurora borealis, weather officials warn they can also disrupt power grids, GPS and communications systems, and other technology.

This particular storm displayed its effects across the northern hemisphere, seen as far north as Alberta, Canada and even across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom. People from across the Philly region and in South Jersey joined skywatchers all over the world in posting their photos online of the northern lights.

If you missed the light show, there may be another chance. While the Space Weather Center issued its geomagnetic storm warning for Thursday into early Friday morning, forecasters say it’s still possible the aurora will be visible Friday night.