Fading chance to see Northern Lights in Philadelphia region Friday night
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Northern Lights, aka the Aurora Borealis, will be pushed south again on Friday night from the polar region. There was a good possibility that Thursday night's Aurora Borealis would reach southeastern Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the dazzling display of colors stayed farther north.
A slightly weaker geomagnetic storm Friday will trigger the lights again on Friday night, but they are most likely going to stay closer to the Canadian border. We will also have more cloud cover tonight, making it difficult to see the lights even if they appear low on the horizon.
Geomagnetic Storms are rated on a scale of 1 being weakest and 5 being the strongest and most catastrophic to Earth. Thursday's geomagnetic storm was a strong G3 while tonight's will be a G2.
Northern Lights are caused by a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) of plasma off the surface of the sun. CME's can reach Earth in as little as 18 hours in the form of a Geomagnetic Storm full of highly charged particles. Earth's magnetic field combines with the particles to fill the sky with a mesmerizing display of dancing color known as the Northern Lights.
A resort in Minnesota captured both the Northern Lights and lightning at the same time last night. Take a look below:
