Northern Lights Seen Across CA: Powerful Solar Storm Peaks Wednesday For Another Chance To See

If you missed Tuesday’s impressive display of the northern lights seen as far south as Southern California and the U.S. Gulf Coast, they may repeat in half the country on Wednesday. Accuweather reports that a rare Severe (level 4 out of 5) Geomagnetic Storm Watch remains in place into late Wednesday, beginning around noon PST and continuing through the evening.

The widespread aurora displays seen overnight were caused by one of the most powerful G4-rated geomagnetic storms of the current solar cycle. They are the strongest since Oct. 10, 2024, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. If the solar storm maintains its severity, the aurora borealis may dance in 24 states, and potentially again in states such as Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, NOAA said in its latest forecast.

If geomagnetic activity continues as forecast, the aurora could once again be visible Wednesday night across California, according to space weather reports. Such light events are best viewed away from light pollution, such as in the deserts and mountain areas.

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But what causes them?

“As billions of charged particles collide with Earth's magnetic field, these collisions produce lights and, depending on the molecules and location in the atmosphere, can produce green, blue, or even red aurora lights," Accuweather experts explained. The space weather forecast calls for a Kp index of up to 8 on a scale of 0-9. The strongest G-4 conditions are expected to arrive between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., but G-3 conditions are likely to persist for many hours after that.

Rainshowers could dampen aurora viewing across Northern California and the Bay Area on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Central California residents who live in dark sky communities may catch a glimpse of brightening in the northern sky after dark, as may residents farther south, especially in the Inland Empire mountain and desert communities, as was seen Tuesday.

Social media feeds were filled overnight with photos shot with cellphones and professional cameras — even if they’re not visible with the naked eye, the cameras can pick up images the human eye cannot — from places that don’t normally see the ethereal curtains of green, red, pink, purple and yellow lights. Many images from Northern California showed purple lights across the night sky while many in Southern California showed glowing red night skies.

Across California, shades of purple to bright pink were visible without assistance from Lake Tahoe in the north to across the Southern California Deserts, up to the Bay Area, and the far north of the state.

Inland Empire photographer Brandi Carlos shared her photos with Patch. She's a weather and fire photographer known as @FirePhotoGirl on X, and journeyed from Yucca Valley, Landers, and up to Homestead Valley, west of Joshua Tree, off State Route 247. Carlos photographed the sight visible without assistance.

"I had to go east and north to get out of the cloud cover, but it peeled through the clouds in most areas," she said, sharing photos to fans across X.

See the vibrant pinks she captured against desert backdrops. If you can't see the colors or a glow to the north on Wednesday night, try looking through your phone camera. Often, the colors of a geomagnetic storm are invisible to the naked eye.

According to NOAA’s latest map, states that could see the lights are Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Central and southern states may only be able to see the lights with a camera. Portions of California might see the residual effects of those lights, where the weather cooperates.

Scientists were on high alert after two fast-moving CMEs, or coronal mass ejections — clouds of charged particles from the sun — erupted Sunday and Monday. The eruptions followed X1.7- and X1.2-class solar flares on those days.

“We believe that the ‘heart’ of the current CME — the magnetic cloud — is now passing over Earth and will continue to do so over the overnight hours,” NOAA said on the Space Weather Prediction Center website.

“We believe the final and most energetic CME has yet to arrive and may still be on track for a midday (EST) or so arrival,” the notice said. “We are seeing indications of another, perhaps stronger, CME moving through space, and that be the third CME we are still awaiting.”

The best time to look at the northern horizon is after sunset on Wednesday. It’s advisable to get as far away from city lights as possible, although many social media posts featured photos shot under city lights.