Some of the U.S. could see the northern lights due to a geomagnetic storm

A powerful geomagnetic storm in the forecast for Sunday night could make the colorful northern lights visible across parts of the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

The aurora could appear over much of the northern half of the contiguous U.S., even as far south as northern California and Alabama, the center said.

Space weather officials detected a solar flare associated with this geomagnetic storm on Friday, and National Weather Service offices from Rapid City, S.D., to Spokane, Wash., have posted photos of the telltale green and purple streaks in the sky captured earlier Sunday.

The geomagnetic storm, which is expected to last through late Monday, is being spurred on by an ongoing coronal mass ejection, which occurs when the sun spews large amounts of plasma and magnetic field out into space.

That disturbance in the solar wind can rattle Earth’s magnetosphere and cause problems on our planet. Federal officials say a G3 (strong) or G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm is possible, weather that could disrupt power systems, impede satellite operations and hamper radio communications.

The Space Weather Prediction Center said that even though the coronal mass ejection is weakening, elevated solar wind conditions could still produce a significant cosmic event.

The northern lights, which are caused by solar wind hitting Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, are typically best viewed in a dark setting late at night or early in the morning.