Northern Lights May Be Visible In MN Tonight

The northern lights are poised to be on display across much of the northern and central U.S. overnight, including in Minnesota.

A coronal mass ejection that erupted from a sunspot on Saturday is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field late Monday into early Tuesday, sparking a moderate to severe geomagnetic storm, according to Space.com.

“That means auroras could extend much farther south than usual — potentially giving millions across the northern and even central U.S. a shot at catching the lights,” the outlet reported, noting additional storming may continue Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Monday’s event may be a “cannibal” coronal mass ejection, with one ejection overtaking another, according to Space.com.

“The NOAA model run includes the two Earth-directed #solarstorm launches,” space weather physicist Dr. Tamitha Skov said in a post on X. “The larger one catches up with the smaller one just ahead of Earth so a precursor disturbance may indeed ramp up before the larger storm hits.”

To get the best view, skywatchers should go somewhere dark that’s far from urban lights, face north toward a clear horizon, and look up between midnight and 2 a.m., but start keeping watch sooner, Space.com advised.

According to the outlet, states where the lights are expected to be visible include:

• Alaska
• Montana
• North Dakota
• Minnesota
• Wisconsin
• Michigan
• Maine
• South Dakota
• Vermont
• New Hampshire
• Idaho
• Washington
• Oregon
• New York
• Wyoming
• Iowa
• Nebraska
• Illinois.