The aurora dances in the night sky over Princeton, Minnesota, United States, on November 11, 2025. The dazzling display was caused by a series of powerful X-class solar flares, with the aurora borealis reported as far south as Florida. (Photo by Christopher Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Anadolu via Getty Images
The Northern Lights could put on an unusually strong display overnight Monday December 8 to Tuesday December 9, following a “full halo” forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
Triggered by a coronal mass ejection — a cloud of charged particles ejected from the sun — NOAA says US states from the “lower Midwest to Oregon” could see auroras during a strong G3 geomagnetic storm, likely in the morning hours of Tuesday, December 9. See how you can photograph the Northern Lights with a smartphone.
Why the Northern Lights are Suddenly Active
The sun rotates approximately every 27 days. On November 11, the aurora was seen dancing across the night sky in the US following solar flares and CMEs in the Earth-facing disk of the sun. The Northern Lights were reported as far south as Florida. A full rotation later, the same active region on the sun is again facing Earth – meaning that any solar flares and CMEs produced are likely to mean a high chance of an aurora in mid-December this year.
This week’s display has its origins in an M8 class solar flare on December 6, which unleashed a CME that is now heading straight for Earth.
An X1.1 class solar flare erupted on the sun on December 8, making December 10-11 a date to circle on the calendar as a potentially even stronger geomagnetic storm.
Where and when to see the Northern Lights
NOAA’s forecast has a G3 geomagnetic storm estimated to develop between 6:00-9:00 UTC (1:00-4:00 a.m. EST) on Tuesday, December 9. Kp levels could reach 6.67, enough to make the aurora visible from 22 US states, Montagu, North Washington, Alagonska, Washington, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Planning a Northern Lights trip
If you’re chasing the Northern Lights in the US, you need to avoid two things: clouds and urban glare. You can escape the latter by heading about 40 miles from urban areas to some place that looks dark in light pollution mapor simply find a park using it Dark Sky Location Tracker. What’s key is a dark northern horizon — a dark place south of a big city is a bad choice. Check the weather forecast before you go out., as well as NOAA’s 30 minute aurora forecast and apps like Aurora Now, My Aurora Forecast or Glendale Aurora for up-to-date alerts and live solar wind data.
Traveling to see the Northern Lights
If you want to see the aurora, however, the best tactic is to plan a trip somewhere near the Arctic Circle, above which the aurora oval sits. In this area, auroras are nocturnal (although clear skies are not!), giving you a much better chance. The best places to see the aurora include Alaska, northern Canada, northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. At these latitudes, auroras are visible several nights a week from September to March, with those two months giving you the best chances.
I wish you clear skies and open eyes.
