This graphic shows where the auroras may be visible Wednesday, Nov. 12. The brightness and location of the auroras are typically shown as a green oval centered on Earth’s magnetic pole in this image from NOAA. The green ovals turn red when the aurora is forecast to be more intense. A thin red 'viewline' represents the southern-most locations from which you may see the aurora on the northern horizon.
Jordan Perrigo watches the northern lights shimmer over Hulah Lake in northern Oklahoma on Nov. 11, 2025, during a rare geomagnetic storm visible to the naked eye.

Did you miss the northern lights last night? Don't worry: The powerful activity from the sun that unveiled the beautiful display in skies across the United States is expected to continue.

Eruptions of solar energy known as coronal mass ejections have been peppering Earth's magnetic field. While such solar storms aren't necessarily uncommon, the intensity of the recent bursts are rare.

In fact, the activity has prompted the Space Weather Prediction Center to issue a nearly unheard of "severe" geomagnetic storm watch for Tuesday, Nov. 11, and Wednesday, Nov. 12.

What does this mean? For many people in the Northern Hemisphere, which includes the U.S., it means an extraordinary opportunity to gaze upon some breathtaking red and green auroras in their own backyard.

But a geomagnetic storm of that intensity also brings with it threats to U.S. power systems, GPS signals and orbital infrastructure.

Here's everything to know about the northern lights, and how powerful space weather can unveil the stunning display.

Massive geomagnetic storm hits Earth

A powerful geomagnetic solar storm blasted Earth on Tuesday, Nov. 11, and is expected to continue into the following day, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The agency's Space Weather Prediction Center, which is tracking the storm, ranks current levels at a G3. But levels approaching the intensity of a G4-rated storm are still expected Wednesday, Nov. 12 – a single level away from being the most powerful solar storm possible.

On NOAA's scale, that means the powerful electromagnetic energy will waver between strong and severe in intensity that could cause "widespread voltage control problems" to ground-based power systems, and even disrupt space operations.

Could geomagnetic storms disrupt communications on Earth?

Weaker solar activity won't be noticeable here on Earth.

But a geomagnetic storm with enough energy output has the potential to disrupt satellites, communications systems, and even ground-based technologies like power grids if directed at our planet. In extreme cases, powerful solar events even pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts, NASA says.

In this case, “infrastructure operators have been notified to mitigate any possible impacts,” NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center warned in its alert.

In May 2024, a historically powerful geomagnetic storm was responsible for some reports of power grid irregularities and interference with GPS signals – even farming equipment.

The storm prompted NOAA to issue a rare storm watch for the first time in 19 years for a geomagnetic storm classified as a G4. Amid the solar activity, the sun even emitted an explosive burst of radiation that became the largest solar flare detected since 2017, according to the NOAA.

On the bright side, it also unleashed spectacular views of the northern lights in parts of the country where auroras are not often visible.

What are the northern lights?

The auroras are a natural light display in Earth's sky that are famously best seen in high-latitude regions of the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

The phenomenon is caused when electrically charged particles from space enter Earth's atmosphere and collide with molecules and gases like oxygen and nitrogen, causing the atmospheric particles to gain energy. To return to their normal state, the particles release that energy in the form of light, according to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks Geophysical Institute website, which tracks the phenomenon.

As auroras form, Earth's magnetic field redirects the particles toward the poles through a process that produces a stunning display of rays, spirals and flickers that have fascinated humans for millennia. Whether hues of green, red, blue and even pink dance about in the sky depends on the altitude where the collisions occur, as well as the composition and density of the atmosphere at the time.

Where are the auroras visible?

For most of the time, auroras are best seen around the magnetic poles of the Northern and Southern hemispheres in Europe, Asia and North America. In the U.S., Alaska is well known to have the best viewing opportunities for the northern lights.

Solar storm sparks northern lights across US

But for a few brief hours overnight, the recent geomagnetic storm made the auroras visible farther from the poles.

Though 21 states were forecasted to have views of the northern lights, skygazers reported seeing the auroras Tuesday, Nov. 11, as far south as Texas, Florida and Colorado – states that were not predicted to be within the viewline.

Parts of about 18 states remain partially or fully within NOAA's forecasted "view line" for the northern lights for Wednesday, Nov. 12. The view line indicates the southernmost point where the aurora could be seen on the northern horizon.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center uses a KP index scale to measure how far away from the poles the northern lights could be visible. In this case, the detected geomagnetic activity has a Kp index of 6, meaning the northern lights will be active and brighter further from the poles, according to the agency.

Northern lights activity has increased. How solar flares can cause auroras

Ever since the sun reached the height of its 11-year cycle in 2024, the increase in solar activity has more frequently fueled "space weather" that produces the right conditions for northern lights to flourish.

Regions of intense magnetic activity known as sunspots proliferating on the solar surface are capable of releasing intense bursts of radiation resulting in solar flares that can hurtle toward Earth at the speed of light, according to NOAA. Some of the flares – considered by NASA to be our solar system's largest explosive events – can be accompanied by coronal mass ejections, or clouds of plasma and charged particles, that emerge from the sun's outermost atmosphere, the corona.

These ejections can collide with Earth’s magnetosphere, the barrier protecting humanity from the harshest effects of space weather, to produce geomagnetic storms that unleash spectacular views of the northern lights in parts of the country where auroras are not often visible.

What's more, because NASA expects the solar maximum to continue into 2025, aurora chasers have had plenty of opportunities to catch the northern lights.

When, how to see the northern lights

Even though conditions are prime for more impending aurora shows, experts have long struggled to accurately forecast exactly when and where the phenomenon will ever occur. Even the best predictions can accurately be made only a few days or even hours in advance.

But as a rule of thumb, if the weather is clear, the best aurora is usually visible within an hour or two of midnight, according to NOAA. And if it looks as if the northern lights will flare up near you, you should get away from cities and travel to dark locations free from light pollution so you can best see them.

The agency also maintains an aurora dashboard that should help skygazers track the phenomenon. NOAA's 30-minute aurora forecast may be particularly useful for regular updates on viewing opportunities.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What causes the northern lights? Here's why auroras became widely visible in US

Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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