Maine, New Hampshire, New York, & Massachusetts Could See the Northern Lights Friday Night

You normally need to be in the Arctic to see the Aurora Borealis, but it looks like much of New England may get a taste of the Northern Lights on Friday night.  It's all thanks to a series of powerful solar storms.

According to an article on the News Center Maine website, the scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced that a solar storm watch has been upgraded from moderate to severe.  The last time we saw a severe alert was in 2005.

The article explains that over the last few days, NOAA has been watching a series of coronal mass ejections from the sun.  So far, there have been five of these CMEs, and they are massive.  They appear to be about 16 times the diameter of the Earth.

When the plasma from these CMEs hits the planet, they have been known to cause issues with GPS satellites, radios, and the power grid.  They are also the cause of the Aurora Borealis.

It is expected that these particles will hit the Earth late Friday night or early Saturday morning.  This massive amount of particles will make the Northern Lights much brighter than normal, causing it to be visible farther south than normal.

At this point, it looks like the spectacular light display will be visible in parts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts.

Well, it will be visible as long as the weather cooperates.  Unfortunately, much of New England will have at least partial cloud cover through the weekend.  Hopefully, there will be enough clear patches so that you can catch a glimpse of it.