More Chances To See Northern Lights Predicted In June: Here's When

ACROSS AMERICA —If you missed the last dazzling aurora borealis display — or if you want to experience the ethereal look into the cosmos again — June could be a good month to chase the northern lights.

The green, red and pink curtains of light could appear this weekend over northern tier and upper Midwest states, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That’s because the sunspot regions responsible for the G5-level geomagnetic storm that sent a jaw-dropping aurora display as far south as Florida and the Bahamas in mid-May, just unleashed another monster X1.4-class solar flare in its rotation back to the Earth-viewed side of the sun.

The agency said in a geomagnetic storm watch that energized particles of a coronal mass ejection, or CME, associated with the flare is likely to deliver at least a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field, the agency said in a geomagnetic storm watch Friday.

Keep an eye on the skies on the days before and after June 6, too. That’s when the critical sunspot — AR3664/AR13664 — will directly face Earth again in our bright star’s 27-day rotation. That coincides with the new moon, which means dark skies, and it’s also exactly 27 days since May 10 auroras that dazzled North America and Europe.

Predicting the northern lights is tricky, of course, but solar storms are most likely to occur when the sunspot reaches the center of the sun from Earth’s perspective.

The best times to see the northern lights are generally between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. Get as far away from city lights and as far north as possible, NOAA suggests. A hilltop is a great vantage point.

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The sun has been far busier than scientists had predicted as it heads toward the peak, called solar maximum, of the celestial event called Solar Cycle 25. Every 11 years or so, the sun’s magnetic field completely flips between the north and south poles. As the magnetic fields become tangled about midway through the cycle, the number of sunspots, where geomagnetic storms originate, is expected to ramp up.

Cycle 25 began in December 2019 and is not expected to reach its maximum until July 2025. Not all solar maximums are active, NASA points out, but Cycle 25 hasn’t disappointed northern lights chasers. The geomagnetic storms behind the May aurora borealis displays were history-making in their intensity, and NOAA’s rare geomagnetic storm warning was only its second-ever.

Such events don’t just create mesmerizing auroras. If they’re strong enough, they can disrupt satellite communications, alter GPS accuracy and compromise the power grid. As solar activity ramps up, scientists have warned of an “internet apocalypse” in which electronic communications suddenly and with little or no warning stop working. The historic G5-level geomagnetic storm in May knocked out GPS systems in farm tractors, but other disruptions were minimal.

• Related: ‘Internet Apocalypse’ Could Accompany Vivid Aurora