Northern Lights May Be Visible Over PA: Here's When To Look Up

PENNSYLVANIA — It appears that Pennsylvania residents may want to look up to the sky tonight in the hopes of catching something truly rare and special.

Forecasters say there is a chance of seeing the northern lights in Pennsylvania on Sunday night into Monday morning. There are no guarantees of such things, but the elements are potentially in place for Pennsylvanians to see the northern lights.

The Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a G4 Geomagnetic Storm Watch for June 1 into June 2. The New York Times reports that the northern lights may be viewed as far south as Alabama.

image via the National Weather Service

The National Weather Space Prediction Center said, "The brightness and location of the aurora is typically shown as a green oval centered on Earth’s magnetic pole. The green ovals turn red when the aurora is forecast to be more intense. Aurora can often be observed somewhere on Earth from just after sunset or just before sunrise. The aurora is not visible during daylight hours. The aurora does not need to be directly overhead but can be observed from as much as 1000 km away when the aurora is bright and if conditions are right."

According to Space.com, Pennsylvania is one of 23 states that has a chance to see the northern lights. They advise, "head to a north-facing vantage point as far away from light pollution as possible. But as we approach the summer solstice on June 20/21, the window of darkness for observing northern lights is shrinking; the early morning hours around 1 and 2 a.m. might be the best time to try and see the northern lights."

The National Weather Service predicted a mostly clear evening Sunday for both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.