Northern Lights possibly visible again Saturday evening

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - We could see the Northern Lights again this evening.

We witnessed a generational event last night as a rare level 5 geomagnetic storm caused the northern lights to be visible across the entire state of Alabama. As the name infers, the northern lights, known as the aurora borealis, are typically seen in the higher latitudes. The lights are caused by solar particles interacting with the earth’s magnetosphere. When geomagnetic storms reach the highest levels, these lights can be seen in the lower latitudes. While many significant events have happened over the past 50 years, no event has reached the magnitude of what took place across our state Friday night.

Solar storm activity is monitored by the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. The center monitors for large ejections of the magnetic field and accompanying plasma mass from the sun. These coronal mass ejections create various levels of solar storms, which can have a significant impact on satellites/GPS and voltage regulators, and this can have an impact on power grids. They can also cause very vivid and colorful auroras.

Today NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center was continuing to monitor an extreme level 5/5 solar storm. Therefore, we have another chance to possibly see the northern lights tonight. The greater chance will be during the early evening. The best place to view the lights is in the outlying areas away from light contamination and simply look to the north.

Also, the large sunspot associated with this massive storm is quite visible on the surface of the sun. If you still have those eclipse glasses available, you can see it today. If you capture some good pics of the sunspot or the aurora, be sure to share on the WBRC First Alert Weather App

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