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'Watermelon aurora' shines over snowy Alaska
A vibrant "watermelon aurora" illuminated the sky over Fairbanks, Alaska (Credit: Vincent Ledvina via Storyful)
A moderate geomagnetic storm could make the aurora borealis, or northern lights, visible in nearly 20 states Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Here’s what to know about the visually stunning celestial show:
When will the northern lights be visible?
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center says the best time for seeing the northern lights is late Friday night, April 17, through early Saturday, April 18. Typically, skies are darkest between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Where will the aurora borealis be visible?
Local perspective:
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, the states with the best chance of seeing the northern lights Friday night are:
- Washington
- Idaho
- Montana
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- Michigan
- Maine
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The following states also have a shot at seeing them, particularly during stronger geomagnetic bursts:
- Oregon
- Wyoming
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Ohio
- New York
- Vermont
- New Hampshire
How to see the northern lights
Ideally, you’ll want a dark place, far from city lights with a clear view of the northern sky. The darker it is, the brighter the aurora will appear.
The Aurora Borealis lights up the night sky over Monroe, Wisconsin, on November 11, 2025, during one of the strongest solar storms in decades. (Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
What are geomagnetic storms?
The backstory:
The sun’s intense magnetic energy is the source of solar flares and eruptions of plasma known as coronal mass ejections. When directed toward Earth, they can create stunning auroras but also disrupt power and communications. These are known as geomagnetic storms. The geomagnetic storm predicted for April 17-18 is level G2, which is considered moderate.
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Galileo was among the first astronomers to turn a telescope skyward and study sunspots, back in the early 1600s. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections tend to occur near sunspots, dark patches as big as Earth that are located near the most intense portions of the sun’s shifting magnetic field.
The April 17-18 storm watch is due to a coronal hole, a less dense area in the solar corona, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
The Source: This article includes information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center and previous FOX Local reporting.