PHOENIX — A severe solar storm will make northern lights visible to large portions of the United States, including some states in the South.
This means the lights could be visible in Arizona under the right conditions as they were back in May.
According to an alert sent out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an aurora produced "may be seen as low as Alabama and northern California."
It takes a severe geomagnetic storm for the northern lights to be visible in State 48 and just this week NOAA issued a rare G4 solar storm watch, which is the second highest level on the scale. This is the first G4 solar storm watch since May 2024, but the time before that was in 2005.
Skies will be clear, and visibility will be good to witness this event low on the horizon tonight. Individuals may see hues of green, red, and pink a couple hours after sunset, which is at 6 p.m.
States north of Arizona, may see the aurora directly overhead, but across the desert southwest you will need to look toward the northern horizon.
The NOAA map shows the "view line" for seeing the northern lights running through Utah, Colorado and Missouri. But the northern lights could potentially be seen further south with the help of a camera, a high elevation, and a low amount of light pollution.
So Arizonans in the White Mountains and the northern region could have a good chance of spotting the northern lights.
The aurora can be observed from as much as 1,000 kilometers away when the aurora is bright and if conditions are right, according to the NOAA.
The NOAA issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Thursday into Friday after an outburst from the sun was detected earlier this week. Such a storm could temporarily disrupt power and radio signals.
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