Could Northern California see northern lights again? Here’s what the latest forecast says

Hanh Truong
·2 min read
8

Parts of California could see the northern lights on Friday.

The rare astronomical event, also known as the aurora borealis, may occur late Friday and into Saturday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center announced on Wednesday.

The center issued a G-2, or moderate, geomagnetic storm watch for areas of the United States.

“The aurora may become visible over some northern and upper Midwest states from New York to Idaho,” the center said.

What are northern lights?

Auroras are caused by the activity of the sun.

“Our sun is constantly spewing out high energy particles out into space,” said Kyle Watters, a professor of physics and astronomy at Sacramento State. “Those particles honestly would be fairly hazardous to us as human beings, but luckily for us, Earth has a magnetic field.”

This field traps those charged particles, he said, and funnels them either towards the north or south pole.

According to NOAA, the sun’s particles collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere.

“What ends up happening is those trapped charged particles put on a really pretty light show,” Watters said.

Typically, aurora borealis form about 80 to 500 kilometers — about 50 to 311 miles — above the Earth’s surface, NOAA said on its website.

The northern lights appear north of Lucky Peak State Park near Boise, Friday, May 10, 2024. The phenomenon was made possible by a large solar storm interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field, creating glowing atmospheric gases.
The northern lights appear north of Lucky Peak State Park near Boise, Friday, May 10, 2024. The phenomenon was made possible by a large solar storm interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field, creating glowing atmospheric gases.

When did California last see the northern lights?

Many Californians got a rare look at the northern lights earlier in May.

Experts at the time forecast a severe geomagnetic storm, predicting a big disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field..

Dancing colorful lights were seen in the sky across the state, from Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento area.

Northern lights as seen from Prosser, Wash., on May 10.
Northern lights as seen from Prosser, Wash., on May 10.

Will aurora borealis be visible in California?

NOAA has an aurora dashboard that predicts the visibility of northern lights.

Folks are more likely to view an aurora on Friday than Saturday, the agency said.

According to NOAA, northern states bordering Canada, such as Montana, North Dakota and Washington state will most likely catch a glimpse of the lights.

Auroras are rare in California, but there have been multiple recent sightings.

The northern lights made an appearance in the Golden State in March 2023, and more sightings were expected that November.

In December, NOAA scientists predicted peak solar activity in January and October, which could result in more dramatic light displays in the skies above California.

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