Northern Lights Could Dazzle Minnesota This Week

MINNESOTA — If the July 4 fireworks didn't totally satisfy your desire for dazzling light displays, there’s a good chance for people in Minnesota to see the ethereal curtains of the northern lights.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute predicts aurora activity will be high(+) Thursday, July 13, in parts of Canada and the United States.

The National Weather Service forecast currently calls for partly cloudy skies in the Twin Cities metro area Thursday.

In addition to Minnesota, states that could see the northern lights include Alaska, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Indiana.

The Geophysical Institute forecasts the Kp index — the measure of auroral strength — will be around 6 on a 9-point scale next Thursday. In general, the chances of seeing the northern lights are best with a Kp index of at least 5.

Aurora forecasts are notoriously tricky and can quickly change. The Space Weather Prediction Center, which updates its aurora forecasts every 30 minutes, is expected to release its own forecast as July 13 gets closer.

Anytime the northern lights are active, the best times to see auroras are between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., according to the Space Weather Prediction Center. Get away from city lights for the best viewing opportunities. A waning crescent moon at less than 50 percent illumination will help aurora hunters on Thursday.

This is a particularly active time for the solar storms that produce the northern lights. We’re approaching the expected 2025 peak — called “solar maximum” — of an 11-year solar cycle in which the sun’s magnetic fields flip polarity.

Until 2025, the auroral oval — the area on Earth where the lights are visible — will continue to widen, increasing the chances that the northern lights will dance at lower altitudes.

Last April, people who don’t often see the auroras were surprised by jaw-dropping northern lights displays in more than two dozen states, some as far south as Florida.