January came in like a wrecking ball for skygazers, opening the year with a sweet supermoon and a major meteor shower. The ball keeps rolling, as the old saying goes, with what will likely be one of the best displays of aurora borealis of the year. Monday night's storm is predicted to be quite powerful and may cause the northern lights to stretch as far south as Kansas.
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It's all thanks to an X-class coronal mass ejection that erupted from the sun on Sunday. It is headed straight toward Earth. The plasma and solar material contained therein will interact with Earth's geomagnetic field, resulting in pretty sky lights for those of us here on the ground. Per SpaceWeather, this particular CME erupted for nearly 7 hours, which is a lot longer than usual. NOAA's prediction shows the results of this as the geomagnetic storm continuing uninterrupted with varying strengths, all night and all day on Tuesday.
NOAA says the aurora will be visible as far south as Kansas, although it'll be tough to see that far south. NOAA
Where will the aurora be visible Monday night?
According to NOAA's prediction dashboard, the aurora itself will push down to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Maine. Alaska and Canada have the best view, as is the norm.
It should be at least visible in Nebraska, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. People in those states will want to get to higher ground if possible and face north to get the best view.
Geomagnetic storms are a lot like regular storms here on Earth in that predictions can only get you so far. Should the storm be a bit stronger than its prediction, you can add Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware to the list as well. It may even reach further if the G4 storm is upgraded to a G5 storm, so keep an eye out on your local news Monday evening in case NOAA's prediction changes.
How to watch the aurora borealis
Tips on how to watch the aurora borealis can be broken down by region. If you're in the states where the aurora borealis is definitely happening, all you have to do is get away from the light pollution in city and suburban areas and look up. The closer you are to the Canadian border, the stronger the aurora will be. You won't need any additional equipment to see it.
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