FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Attention astronomy fans! An opportunity to view the northern lights is on the table this weekend. Do not get your hopes up for a grand display, however, as this is a complex forecast this time around and there’s a chance you may not see anything at all…
Northern lights spotted across the region in October
A coronal mass ejection from the sun is expected to arrive sometime on March 23rd (Sunday). This will cause the northern lights to be seen. The precise timing though remaining in flux means it could arrive as early as during the overnight hours Saturday night, it could happen during the day Sunday and we miss it, or it could wait until early Sunday night. Below is the viewing forecast based on the maximum amount of northern lights activity, which will vary by the hour even after the coronal mass ejection arrives.
If you’re looking to try to see the northern lights, you best opportunity will be Saturday night, as we’ll start off mostly clear before turning partly cloudy as the night goes on. Our Sunday night forecast is not favorable, as we’ll be mostly cloudy and rainy early in the night. To increase your chances of seeing the aurora, look to the north, get away from city lights, and use the long exposure setting on your camera.
To determine the southward extent of the aurora, we take a look at the Kp Index. These Kp values are used to describe the global magnetic disturbances in near-Earth space. A higher value on a scale of zero to nine indicates viewing of the northern lights will be found farther south.
For this round of northern lights viewing, the maximum Kp value will be a 7 out of 9, which means some sightings are possible in our area, especially along the horizon, when the coronal mass ejection arrives to Earth.
G3 Geomagnetic Storming is anticipated, which traditionally means the aurora is seen as far south as Illinois and Oregon. Usually it takes G4 or G5 conditions to create a grand show locally, like we saw in May and October last year, so temper your expectations accordingly.
We’ll keep you up to date with the latest information and you can always keep an eye on the cloud cover forecast hour-by-hour by visiting our WANE 15 Weather Page .
For a real time analysis of the Kp values, visit the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center here . Happy aurora hunting!…