Strong geomagnetic storm may produce vivid northern lights as far south as Pennsylvania
Solar flares and a coronal mass ejection could push auroras into the central U.S. this weekend as a G3 geomagnetic storm targets Earth.
The northern lights can be stunning in person but tricky to capture on camera. Meteorologist Tony Laubach breaks down how to photograph auroras using your phone with easy step-by-step settings.
Activity from the sun could create displays of the aurora borealis across the northern half of the United States this weekend.
The sun has produced multiple solar flares and associated coronal mass ejections over the past week, most of which had glancing blows to Earth. But the timing has finally lined up, and NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issued a Strong (G3) Geomagnetic Storm Warning for Friday into Saturday.
The northern lights seen from Gillette, Wyoming on Oct. 5, 2024. (Image credit: Tony Laubach/AccuWeather)
The SWPC said the latest geomagnetic storm alerts are due to influences from the ongoing Coronal Hole Highspeed Stream and CME that left the sun on Wednesday.
Who could see the northern lights tonight?
The current forecast calls for a maximum KP-index of 7 out of 9, which could mean those as far south as Pennsylvania could see faint aurora lights, and skywatchers from Illinois to Oregon could see brighter displays.
The northern lights typically appear near Earth’s poles, but intense solar storms can push auroras much farther south. When this happens, skywatchers may spot sweeping waves of green, red and purple light moving across the night sky.
Space weather events like this week’s solar eruption can also impact technology, potentially affecting the power grid, satellites, GPS navigation and radio communications.
Space weather monitoring continues through Artemis II mission
Earth as seen from the Orion spacecraft on April 2, 2026. (Image: Reid Wiseman/NASA)
Right now, NASA's Orion spacecraft is traveling toward the moon with four astronauts on the Artemis II mission. Ahead of the launch, SWPC forecasters spoke extensively with space launch forecasters because of the recent solar activity.
Throughout the mission, NOAA and NASA will continuously monitor the sun and provide real-time space weather forecasts and decision support to help protect astronauts from radiation risks as they travel beyond Earth’s protective magnetic field.
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