Watch out for the Northern Lights on Tuesday night – the Pacific Northwest could get a good view!
We’re currently under a Geomagnetic Storm Watch this week for potential Aurora Borealis. The Space Weather Prediction Center has us between a G1 and a G2 stage, which basically means we’ll be in the minor to moderate zone for viewing capabilities.
Now that sunsets are much earlier given the time of year, we could be in a perfect spot to capture some amazing photos.
The only concern is a small storm up in British Columbia that we need to keep an eye out. The forecast keeps that thing up in B.C. through Friday night, bringing increasing clouds early Wednesday and eventually some showers Wednesday afternoon.
Those that will be out viewing between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning should have the best viewing capabilities as long as those clouds stay to the north. Right now, the forecast calls for mostly clear to partly cloudy.
The Northern Lights are created when the sun has a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). It’s when a large disruption, like a fireball or solar flare, shoots from the sun’s surface and ejects into space. This causes an enormous amount of energy. That energy enters our atmosphere and interacts with ions, causing them to illuminate.
If you snag any photos of the event this week, send them to yourpics.kgw.com.