Missed the spectacular northern lights in NC? You still have a chance. Here’s when.

Joe Marusak
·2 min read
10

Missed the green, red and purple northern lights in the North Carolina sky Friday night?

You still have decent chances to see them again — and again — this weekend, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler captured this image of the northern lights late Friday, May 10, 2024, from the NoDa section of Charlotte.
CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler captured this image of the northern lights late Friday, May 10, 2024, from the NoDa section of Charlotte.

Look up any time from 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday and again from 9 p.m. Sunday until 3 a.m. Monday and the light display could be there again, according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.

CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler captured this image of the northern lights late Friday, May 10, 2024, from the NoDa section of Charlotte.
CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler captured this image of the northern lights late Friday, May 10, 2024, from the NoDa section of Charlotte.

Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch

The lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are an “eruption of solar material,” center officials explained on X, the former Twitter.

We see the colors when electrons collide with the upper reaches of our atmosphere, according to the center. The lights form anywhere from 50 to 300 miles above us.

While NOAA says the lights are in space every day of the year, they are rarely seen this far south.

Did you miss the rare and colorful northern lights display in N.C.? You still have chances to see them.
Did you miss the rare and colorful northern lights display in N.C.? You still have chances to see them.

The Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch Friday evening for the first time since January 2005, The (Columbia) State reported.

And that had countless Carolinians pointing their cameras skyward.

“Seriously a bucket list moment!” CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler said Saturday.

She took photos of the aurora borealis from 10:04 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday from the NoDa section of Charlotte and posted them on Instagram.

CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler captured this image of the northern lights late Friday, May 10, 2024, from the NoDa section of Charlotte.
CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler captured this image of the northern lights late Friday, May 10, 2024, from the NoDa section of Charlotte.

“I’ll be so thrilled if it happens again tonight!” she said.

Odds are that it will.

Nighttime sky forecast

Skies should be great to see the lights again Saturday night and early Sunday, National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Horne told The Charlotte Observer Saturday morning.

“We’re going to have cumulus clouds during the day into the evening, but they will dissipate and, essentially, it will be a clear night,” Horne said.

Sunday night and early Monday are a bit more uncertain, he said.

“We have some high-level moisture coming in from the west, so there could be some high cloudiness,” Horne said.

Viewers can still chance it that night, Horne said, as it’s still uncertain if clouds will be thick enough to mask the display.