Some U.S. states may witness the Northern Lights, aka Aurora Borealis, on November 28 during the special occasion of Thanksgiving. People may also see the Northern lights on November 29, that is Black Friday. The sighting would be possible due to agreeable geomagnetic storm conditions predicted by space weather forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).
These US states may see Aurora Borealis on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday
On November 26, NOAA’s SWPC released an updated version of this week’s forecast of the Aurora Borealis. According to Forbes, reports stated that U.S. states such as New York, Wisconsin, and Washington can witness the Northern Lights.
On November 25, the forecasters detected an extremely powerful solar flare, almost as powerful as X-class on the sun. Right after, a coronal mass ejection was detected. An expulsion of plasma and the magnetic field from the sun’s corona, the hotter outermost layer, followed the event. In addition, the sunspot from which the magnetic field and plasma emerged has started to turn towards the Earth. This week, it is most likely to create more solar flares.
For Thanksgiving Day, November 28, the experts are predicting a G1 geomagnetic storm. In the meantime, for Black Friday, that is November 29, experts are forecasting a G2 geomagnetic storm. G2 storms are usually visible as far south as Idaho and New York. However, it is quite tricky for space weather forecasters to predict the exact outcome. The visibility of the Aurora Borealis from as far south as Oregon and Illinois depends on the materialization of a G3 geomagnetic storm.
As reported by Fox Weather, a coast-to-coast winter storm will bring rain and snow to several places across the United States. Unfortunately, it may hinder the viewing experience of the Northern Lights.
