Northern Lights Might Be Visible Over New York State

Could the Aurora Borealis shine above New York state in the coming days?

The surface of the Sun has been even more active then usual recently. Space.com says that a powerful solar flare erupted from the sun on Wednesday, sending a "super-hot plasma eruption known as a coronal mass ejection" toward the Earth.

What Are the Northern Lights?

The Aurora (Northern Lights) are caused by giant solar winds that carry ionized particles that end up slamming into the Earth's atmosphere near the poles. That is basically what causes the greenish ghostly lights in the sky, though they're not often seen in latitudes this far south.

But while not an everyday occurrence, the Northern lights have been witnessed as far south as the Hudson Valley and the Catskills before.

Northern Lights Could Be Seen Over the Hudson Valley, and Many Parts of NY State

Space.com is reporting that strong Auroras are possible, as very powerful solar flares have erupted from the Sun. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center says that the flares that erupted had "earth-directed components" that may produce bright Auroras as we enter the end of the week.

The Times Union says that Chris Gitro, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, reported that "light green and red auroras might be visible just after sunset around 5 PM and are expected to ramp up between 9 PM and midnight."

Hudson Valley Weather says that the Coronal Mass Ejections that erupted from multiple sun spots over the last few days will impact the earth’s magnetic field Thursday night into Friday AM.

And while HVW says that auroras forecasting can be complicated, the "probability for visible auroras as far south as parts of the Hudson Valley is possible".

Northern Lights Captured Lighting Up Hudson Valley Skies

The rumors were true and the Northern Lights showed up across the Hudson Valley. Thankfully, we're home to some skilled photographers who were able to capture the stunning event.

Sometimes, these "space weather" predictions can lead to quite a showing in the night skies above us. And sometimes not.