(NEXSTAR) – Friday night, Americans across the country were able to catch a glimpse of the northern lights from coast to coast, a sight many only get to see once in their lifetime. But for those who missed it, or are hoping for a second look, you may just get that chance Saturday night.
According to the NOAA’s Aurora Forecast, the majority of households who saw the northern lights last night will have a chance to watch them on Saturday.
Weather permitting, states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Missouri have a chance to see the northern lights again on Saturday night.
Friday night and Saturday morning, “extreme” G5 geomagnetic storms were observed. The last time a G5 solar storm occurred was in 2003, when it caused major power problems in Sweden and South Africa.
If the storm reaches G5 levels again during the Saturday overnight hours, northern lights could be visible as far south as Florida and Texas.
The aurora activity could even continue on into Sunday and early next week, the Space Weather Prediction Center said, as solar activity remains especially high.
The auroras – and interference with our power grid and infrastructure – are caused by coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.
The threat of these geomagnetic storms will continue until the active sunspot cluster, which is roughly 16 times the diameter of Earth, rotates out of our view. That could take days.
If you’re in an area where it’s not expected to be as strong this weekend your best bet to see the lights is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. your local time. If you look up and don’t see anything, people with newer cell phones might just be able to catch a view that’s better than what you can see with the human eye.