Some of the U.S. could see the northern lights due to a geomagnetic storm

A powerful geomagnetic storm in the forecast for Sunday night could make the colorful northern lights visible across parts of the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.

The aurora could appear over much of the northern half of the contiguous U.S., even as far south as northern California and Alabama, the center said .

Space weather officials detected a solar flare associated with this geomagnetic storm on Friday, and National Weather Service offices from Rapid City , S.D., to Spokane , Wash., have posted photos of the telltale green and purple streaks in the sky captured earlier Sunday.

The geomagnetic storm, which is expected to last through late Monday, is being spurred on by an ongoing coronal mass ejection