Northern Lights Possible Across All Of Michigan Friday Night

MICHIGAN — The aurora borealis, or northern lights, may be visible across all of Michigan Friday night due to a strong Geomagnetic storm, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.

Skies will be clear across most of Michigan on Friday throughout the day, but some clouds are expected to move in with slight chances of rain during the nighttime hours, according to the National Weather Service.

It's possible some parts of northern Michigan could see the lights Thursday night, when conditions will be better, according to the research center.

When geomagnetic storming occurs, some of the energy and small particles can travel down the magnetic field lines at the north and south poles into Earth’s atmosphere. There, these particles interact with gasses in our atmosphere, resulting in ethereal light displays in the night sky.

People who live in places like Alaska, Canada and Greenland, which are near Earth’s North Pole, have the best chances of seeing the ethereal auroras. But the powerful eruptions have made the northern lights more common over the past several months, sending the northern lights far south into states like Florida, Texas and Arizona.