Northern lights in Seattle: Visibility possible Wednesday night
SEATTLE - Seattleites have a chance to see the northern lights in the Emerald City Wednesday night, albeit a small likelihood.
What we know:
A strong geomagnetic storm will trigger the colorful light display in the sky, or aurora borealis, over most of Canada, Alaska and some parts of the northern United States.
Aurora forecast Wednesday night (via NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Seattle has a low likelihood of seeing the northern lights, but most of Washington state is within the aurora's "viewline" for the Northern Hemisphere.
Despite signs that solar winds are weakening, the NOAA labeled a recent geomagnetic storm in the G4 range (Severe), and could potentially impact satellite operations and GPS systems. However, further activity will likely be in the G1-G3 range (Minor-Strong).
Timeline:
Forecasts predict the best time to see the northern lights in Seattle will be after sunset (around 8 p.m. Wednesday night), between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. PST. The chance for visibility decreases later into Thursday morning.
To see the northern lights firsthand, try to stay in an area away from light pollution, like a park, open field or overlook. Seattle should see clear skies tonight, so there is a possibility for the Pacific Northwest to get a glimpse of the phenomenon.
Solar storms could trigger Northern Lights as far south as Kentucky Tuesday night
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Geomagnetic Storm Prediction of G3 on the geomagnetic storm scale for early Wednesday morning. The scale goes up to G5.
You can view the live northern lights forecast on the NOAA's website.
The Source: Information in this story is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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