If you haven’t caught the northern lights this year, now could be your final shot. And what a cool way to welcome the new year!
The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) put out a geomagnetic storm watch for Dec. 31. It’s due to a solar storm coming from a sun eruption (a coronal mass ejection or CME) on Dec. 29. CMEs, caused by the sun’s magnetic field, can sometimes lead to amazing aurora shows.
The SWPC said the G3-level geomagnetic storm is “not rare” and the aurora “might be visible in many northern states,” as far south as Illinois and Oregon.
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NASA said northern lights’ visibility hit a 500-year high this year because of the active sun, which peaked in October.
What you should know about geomagnetic storms
These storms happen because of solar changes that affect the Earth’s magnetosphere, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). The big ones, like the expected Dec. 31 storm, are tied to CMEs.