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Northern Lights put on stunning show across Chicago area
The Northern Lights were seen all over the Chicago area on Friday night.
CHICAGO - Chicagoans and millions of other people in the U.S. as far south as Alabama could be in for another dazzling display of the Northern Lights on Sunday night as Earth continues to be blasted by a historic geomagnetic storm that hasn’t been experienced in decades.
The sky was filled with vibrant colors of green, pink and purple from the Northern Lights as far south as Florida and Texas on Friday night after a massive sunspot the width of 17 Earths spewed solar flares, leading to geomagnetic storm activity reaching Level 5 "extreme" conditions.
After a brief drop to Level 3 and 4 conditions, solar activity reenergized Saturday, and storms returned to Level 5 conditions, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).
The SWPC said another series of coronal mass ejections (CME) associated with the solar flare activity in the same region over the past several days are expected to merge and arrive at Earth on Sunday afternoon.
This graphic shows current and forecast solar storm conditions on Earth. (FOX Weather)
PHOTOS: Northern Lights put on dazzling display across Chicago area
Because of that, a Geomagnetic Storm Watch was issued for Sunday as Level 4 "severe" conditions and possibly Level 5 "extreme" geomagnetic storms are likely to follow.
Space weather forecasters say watches at that level are very rare, and the Northern Lights may be visible from Sunday night into early Monday over much of the northern half of the U.S. and maybe as far south as Alabama and Northern California.
According to forecasting maps from SWPC, Chicago remains above the viewline for Sunday night, but will be moved out of the viewing area by Monday night.
Aurora viewline forecast for Sunday, May 12. (SWPC)
It is hard to predict the storm’s effect, but you can check SWPC’s aurora dashboard here.