The northern lights can be a beautiful sight to see, but we usually can’t see them very far south in the northern hemisphere. While the odds are very small, at one point NOAA thought we could see the northern lights in northern Nevada this time around. To see them Thursday evening and night look to the north over the horizon. The best chance of seeing the lights moves farther north with time. Places like North Dakota and Maine have the best chance of seeing the northern lights. Unfortunately, the latest forecast moves the visibility line much farther north into the Great Lakes and Montana region. As of Wednesday, we thought portions of Nevada could see the lights, but that has since changed.Â
The northern lights are caused from particles of the sun colliding with the earth’s electric magnetic field over the North Pole. This all starts from a solar flare. A solar flare causes a cloud of gas to be ejected from the sun. This collision between the sun’s particles and the earth’s atmosphere creates changes in the earth’s magnetic field. This in return leads to charged particles moving through a pathway. When these charged particles collides with pieces of oxygen and nitrogen, they turn a bright green or red color for all to see. These are the northern lights. They are shaped like a curtain and appear to dance around in a time lapse.Â
