Northern Lights In IL: Powerful Solar Storm Peaks Wednesday For Another Chance To See

After Tuesday's impressive display of the northern lights seen as far south as the U.S. Gulf Coast, they may repeat in half the country Wednesday, including in Illinois.

Tuesday night’s widespread aurora displays, caused by one of the most powerful G4-rated geomagnetic storms of the current solar cycle, 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.

The 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.

The forecast for the evening in the Chicagoland area is partly cloudy with a low of 35 degrees, according to the National Weather Forecast.

Social media feeds were filled Tuesday night with photos shot with cellphone 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.

See what people across the Chicago area shared on X:

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 [would] 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.