“Strongly extreme” Northern Lights are predicted with visibility even further south

The Northern Lights forecast has been improved in all aspects.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has increased the percentage chance of moderate and strong to extremely strong geomagnetic storms.

SWPC has also expanded the time period over which they believe a geomagnetic storm could form that produces the Northern Lights.

The stronger the geomagnetic storm, the further south the Northern Lights can be seen. SWPC has also increased expected Northern Lights coverage, with a viewing opportunity further south.

The new timing prediction makes it easy for us to know when to look for celestial magic. SWPC now says there could be northern lights at any time from tonight until sunrise on Sunday.

SWPC is still aiming for the highest Kp index and therefore the strongest Northern Lights on Saturday evening just after dark. However, waiting until Saturday evening to look for the Northern Lights is problematic as it will be cloudy over parts of Michigan.

Here is the latest forecast from SWPC. It contains a whole bunch of numbers, so I'll make it easy for you.

The section labeled Geomagnetic Activity Probabilities shows a 30% chance of a moderate geomagnetic storm tonight and Saturday night. It also shows a 35% chance of a strong, extreme geomagnetic storm tonight and a 40% chance for Saturday night.

The lower section contains Kp index forecasts in three-hour increments. The higher Kp values ​​give us a great chance of seeing the Northern Lights and are an indication of possible viewing further south.

With a Kp index of 6, northern lights would be visible south to about central Lower Michigan. If the Kp index reaches 7 on Saturday evening, Northern Lights would be visible in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.

Keep in mind that there will be some areas of continuous cloudiness Saturday evening as a swath of rain moves across Michigan.

While the Northern Lights could be visible just after dark tonight, the SWPC forecast shows there is an increased chance of Northern Lights at 11pm this evening. We may be up late tonight to see the best Northern Lights show.

If you want to see the Northern Lights this evening, go to a high location with a clear view to the north. You'll want to be there by 11pm, but you may have to wait until after midnight to see them.