Aurora borealis watch: Where to see the northern lights this weekend and why you should bring a phone

Good news: The northern lights, or aurora borealis, could be visible this weekend in many parts across the country. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts the possibility of prime viewing late Saturday into Sunday, with the aurora possible over many Northern states and some of the Lower Midwest to Oregon—and even farther south, if you’re viewing through a camera or phone. The aurora borealis is the result of a “strong” geomagnetic storm (G3), that ranks 3 out of 5 on NOAA’s severity scale. However, that forecast could change. If stronger than expected, a G4 solar storm (4 out of 5 on NOAA’s scale) would make the aurora visible down to Alabama and up to Northern California. And again, people even farther south could capture the dancing lights on their cameras and phones. A geomagnetic storm occurs when a coronal mass ejection (CME), an eruption of solar material, reaches Earth and causes swaths of blue, green, and purple in the sky. This weekend, it could also cause “limited, minor effects to some technological infrastructure . . . but mainly mitigable,” according to NOAA. About 20 years ago, also in October, geomagnetic storms disrupted over half the spacecrafts orbiting Earth, as well as airline communications, and damaged a satellite. Normally, the best place to see the northern lights is around Earth’s poles—in places like Iceland and northern parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, Canada, Alaska, and Southern Greenland—not over the contiguous U.S. But we’re currently in a period of increased northern lights activity, which is likely the result of an 11-year sun cycle peaking through October. But don’t worry, even after the peak, NOAA predicts activity will remain high into 2025 and 2026. You can track the aurora on NOAA’s page, where the agency is providing updates.