Northern Lights Over NJ: How To Spot The Aurora Borealis

NEW JERSEY — New Jerseyans could come face-to-face with a geomagnetic storm. But if you're unfamiliar with the term, don't fret. The storm likely won't have any Earth impacts outside of the chance of a gorgeous view of the Northern Lights rarely visible in the Garden State's skies.

The aurora borealis typically take place closer to the North Pole. But the storm could push further south enough to light up the airspace over New Jersey on Friday night.

Geomagnetic storms occur during the efficient energy exchange from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth. The largest of such storms are associated with solar coronal mass ejections, where about a billion tons of plasma from the sun arrives at Earth with its embedded magnetic field.

The storm, in turn, projects plasma and pieces of the sun's magnetic field into the atmosphere. In some cases, the disturbances are strong enough to pull the Earth's magnetic field away from the planet. But the magnetic field snaps back, and the force of the recoil creates powerful ripples of plasma waves known as Alfvén waves.

The current storm started Sunday and will end Friday night. Like any casual skywatching activity, terrestrial weather conditions, such as cloudiness, can make or break the view. AccuWeather projects a 44 percent chance of cloud cover Friday night, including early Saturday morning, in New Jersey. Find your local forecast here.

To get the best possible view — without venturing closer to the North Pole — NPR suggests the following:

• Pick a spot with little light pollution.
• Get to higher elevation if possible.
• Check your local forecast for signs of clouds or precipitation.
• Scan the sky. While "northern" is in the name, they can appear from all directions.

Pinpointing the time they'll appear is difficult, since the Northern Lights can appear with only a few minutes' warning. But you can sign up for local aurora alerts from Soft Serve News, which forecasts the aurora.