Monday night might bring an encore of rare Northern Lights show in Northern Colorado
If you were up in the wee hours of Sunday night into early Monday morning in Northern Colorado, you would have had the rare opportunity to see the Northern Lights.
If you missed last night's show, there is a possibility of another show Monday night into Tuesday morning, though it's not expected to be quite as showy.
Jeff Stahla of Loveland said he went to the north end of Horsetooth Reservoir to photograph the show after the National Weather Service in Boulder sent a tweet mentioning receiving photos around midnight.
"This one was pretty faint by the time I got out there around 1 a.m.," he said. "You could tell something was going on but it wasn't until after shooting it with a long exposure that I realized how big of a show it was.''
He said he vividly remembers a bigger show when he was a child growing up in Greeley in the 1970s.
"That one was a much more pronounced aurora borealis over Colorado,'' he said. "It was so vivid that folks in Denver thought something happened at the (Fort St. Vrain) nuclear power plant near Platteville.''
Well, this was happening overnight in Northern Colorado. #aurora #cowx pic.twitter.com/1IagbPUdis
— Jeff Stahla (@JeffStahla) February 27, 2023
The weather service said Sunday's show was one of the best chances in a long time to see the aurora borealis, thanks to clear skies and a strong geomagnetic storm.
Are you seeing the #AuroraBorealis in northern Colorado tonight? Might be the best chance in a long time. We're seeing good pictures from Fort Collins and Cheyenne! Moon will be going down soon so it might be easier then. Get away from city lights and look north. https://t.co/TyrGzpk2xt
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) February 27, 2023
Michael Charnick, a Fort Collins-area meteorologist, captured images of the Northern Lights about 10 miles north of Fort Collins shortly before midnight. He wrote on his Twitter account it was his first Northern Lights sighting in Colorado: "Going absolutely nuts now. Red pillars/green naked eye visible just north of Fort Collins CO. Did not expect this, going to find a better foreground!'' he wrote in a tweet.
Going absolutely nuts now. Red pillars/green naked eye visible just north of Fort Collins CO.
Did not expect this, going to find a better foreground! #aurora #Auroraborealis #cowx https://t.co/kauZMxIauN pic.twitter.com/E3XAPkaw4K— Michael Charnick (@charnick_wx) February 27, 2023
He later posted another image of the Northern Lights along a remote stretch of road in Northern Colorado:
The Aurora Borealis made a rare appearance in Colorado last night! This was the view along a desolate stretch of highway in Larimer County.
Exposure stack of two images - 6s for the sky and 30s for the foreground. #cowx #auroraborealis #Aurora pic.twitter.com/Zt0zJvyEPw— Michael Charnick (@charnick_wx) February 27, 2023
Another night of Northern Lights possible Monday night
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wrote on its website that strong geomagnetic storms are possible Monday and Tuesday.
The storm Sunday night into Monday morning was rated as strong while the storm Monday night into Tuesday morning is rated moderate.
The best times to see the Northern Lights in Colorado are during strong geomagnetic storms, with clear skies, after the moon has set and at locations away from light pollution.
The National Weather Service's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies Monday night.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Northern Lights puts on rare show in Northern Colorado