Waves of color filled the Colorado night sky Friday as the Northern Lights lit up most of the globe in a phenomenon only seen once every two decades or more, according to space weather experts.
“We had reports all the way down to south Florida and Puerto Rico,” said Mike Bettwy, operations chief for the Space Weather Prediction Center. “The aurora was pretty widespread across much of the globe. You’re looking at only every 20 to 25 years that it would be this widespread.”
A solar outburst and severe geomagnetic storm ramped up the aurora borealis, Bettwy said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a severe, G4 geomagnetic storm watch — the second highest on the scale — for the first time since since January 2005 on Thursday.
Space weather officials warned of at least five coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — pulses of plasma and other sun material — headed to Earth this weekend. The fastest CMEs can reach Earth from the Sun in 15 to 18 hours, and slower CMEs can take several days to arrive, space weather officials said.
As the CMEs pass through Earth’s atmosphere, they increase aurora activity, Bettwy said. The CMEs that arrived Friday afternoon and caused Friday night’s unusually bright light show are now passing out of the atmosphere.
“That puts us in a little bit of a lull,” he said. “We will see some aurora tonight, probably even here in Colorado we’ll see some, but not to the extent of last night.”
That just means Saturday is the least exciting day of the weekend — bright and intense Northern Lights to match Friday’s energy will return Sunday, Bettwy said.
Additional solar flares and CMEs ejected from the sun Saturday morning and late Friday night will arrive in Earth’s atmosphere Sunday afternoon, ramping the geomagnetic storm back up and returning the Northern Lights to Friday’s vividness and reach Sunday night.
“The storm will wind down after Sunday,” Bettwy said. “There’s a chance that it could remain relatively stormy Monday into Tuesday, so I wouldn’t rule out seeing the lights Monday night as well.”
“One tip we share with people is if they can’t see the aurora, to take a couple photos with their phone and look that way,” Bettwy said. “You might pick up an aurora where you can’t see it. The lights travel on an infrared wavelength that our phone cameras process better than our eyes do.”
Unfortunately, it’s up to the fickle Colorado weather if skies are clear enough to see the lights.
Scattered rain showers and thunderstorms, as well as cloudy overlays, could block the aurora borealis from view Saturday and Sunday, according to National Weather Service forecasters. Those looking to see the next wave of lights might have more luck up by the Colorado-Wyoming border.
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