A series of coronal mass ejections could make the Northern Lights visible over the Chicago area this week, but will Mother Nature cooperate and allow residents to see the show?
According to the latest guidance from the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center, a geomagnetic storm watch has been issued after at least four CME’s were reported over the weekend.
Those could arrive at Earth beginning Tuesday morning and lasting into Thursday, with a G3 storm watch issued for Tuesday.
That level of geomagnetic storm can make the Northern Lights visible across the northeastern United States, in the upper Midwest and across the rest of the northern United States.
There are a few complicating factors at play. CME’s are difficult to predict in terms of arrival times, and may impact Earth during daylight hours in the Western Hemisphere, making the show impossible to see from the Chicago area.
More importantly this week, a series of showers and thunderstorms are expected to impact the Chicago area, especially late Tuesday and Wednesday, which could leave the show completely blocked out due to cloud cover.
Local
If the Northern Lights are visible, Monday night and into Tuesday morning may be the best time to observe them, and officials recommend getting to darker places where the northern horizon is unobstructed.
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