Will northern lights appear in NE Ohio again tonight?

CLEVELAND (WJW) — Did you see it? Residents across Northeast Ohio got a stunning show as an aurora, or “northern lights” were visible Friday night.

It’s a weather phenomenon that’s exceedingly rare in this part of the world.

See what appeared in some local northern lights pics

If you missed it, or want to see it again, you may have another shot on Saturday and even Sunday night but, Northeast Ohio’s weather needs to cooperate.

For the first time since 2005, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch, after spotting five coronal mass ejections pointed at Earth, expected to arrive by midday Friday, May 10, and stay through Sunday, May 12. It’s an “unusual event,” the NOAA noted.

According to FOX 8 Meteorologist Mackenzie Bart, clouds will make the light difficult to see see Saturday night, but there is a better chance the forecast will cooperate on Sunday if the geomagnetic storm persists.

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Coronal mass ejections are scorching blasts of magnetized plasma from the sun’s corona which can cause electromagnetic disruptions on Earth, creating ribbons of multi-colored light that dance in the skies.

Several strong solar flares have been seen over the past few days from a sunspot cluster that is 16 times the diameter of Earth, according to the NOAA.

That cluster is so big you can see it without a telescope, Jay Reynolds, a research astronomer at Cleveland State University. Just make sure you’re wearing your solar eclipse glasses; don’t look directly at the sun without proper protection.

There have only been three other “severe” geomagnetic storms seen in this solar cycle, which started in December 2019. The last “extreme” storm on Halloween in 2003 knocked out power in Sweden and South Africa, according to the NOAA.

How to use your phone camera to see the northern lights

If you are hoping to catch a glimpse of the northern lights, experts say the best time to see the lights is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. If you don’t see anything, try taking a picture with your cell phone and see what appears.

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