Millions of people living in northern states from Washington to New York could see dazzling NORTHERN LIGHTS show thanks to geomagnetic storm - but only if it isn't cloudy

• The Northern Lights are expected to be seen by millions across the northern US and Midwest
• The solar phenomenon is anticipated to light up the sky between Monday and Wednesday 
• If clouds clear, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Boise, Lincoln and Indianapolis could see the dazzling lights on Tuesday  

Millions of people in the northern US and the Midwest could possibly see the dazzling Northern Lights if the clouds break away.

A Geometric Storm Watch was issued by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center for Monday to Wednesday from Washington to New York as a coral mass ejection, or the eruption of solar material, was observed.

According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, the light show was supposed to be visible early Monday, but due to the snowstorm that occurred early in the morning in the northeast, the show was obscured.

If clouds clear out of the way, an opportunity to see the lights high in the sky could happen on Tuesday in Minneapolis, Montana and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The show could also be seen on the horizon in Boise, Idaho, Lincoln, Nebraska and Indianapolis, Indiana.

A Northern Lights show is expected to be seen across the northern US and the Midwest from Monday to Wednesday and can be seen in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Boise, Lincoln and Indianapolis

The lights are most frequently seen in Alaska, Canada and parts of Scandinavia. Pictured: Aurora borealis us seen illuminating Montana in April

A spectacular photo of the neon green waves of light are seen in Alaska in February 2023

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has recorded a total of 19 coral mass ejections coming from the sun in the past week.

The Space Weather Prediction Center said the lights pose zero risk to the general public and that updates on the aurora will be posted to its webpage.

Once the solar materials make it to earth, the process causes a geometric storm as the lights become visible and illuminate the sky when solar winds hit the atmosphere.

The lights, also known as aurora borealis, are most frequently seen in Alaska, Canada and parts of Scandinavia.

Kp, a geomagnetic index that ranks auroral activity from zero to nine – with zero being not very active and nine being very bright and active – forecasts say the storm will be a six which is considered a ‘moderate storm.’

The northern lights produce neon green waves in the dark night sky when electrons from space collide with atoms and molecules from the upper parts of Earth’s atmosphere.

The lights are typically more visible closer to the equinox – the longest days of sunlight in the year. Auroras mostly occur every 27 days.

In July, 17 states were issued a similar chance to get a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

A strip of wonderous lights is seen hovering above the Northern Lights Resort & Spa in northwestern Canada in April 2018

The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks had predicted that the auroral activity in July would be seen in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Indiana, Maine and Maryland.

Vancouver was also expected to see some auroral activity, according to the institute.

In April, the dazzling green and purple lights and auroras were seen by several people in the Northern US stretching from Colorado to Ohio .

About 30 states from the west to the east had the possibility of witnessing the once-in-a-lifetime sky show after a solar flare erupted, according to NOAA Space Weather. Several spectators rushed to social media to share their views in awe.

Viewers in Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, North Dakota, Indiana, South Dakota, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Montana and New York confirmed the rare sighting that lasted up to 30-minutes.

The Northern Lights were visible across the US from in April.  Pictured: the Northern Lights from Big Creek State Park in Iowa in April

Auroras mostly occur every 27 days – the last one happened in late April and was visible in more than half of US states. Pictured: stock image

One man showed a purple aurora seen from behind homes in Reno, Nevada.

‘Never in a million years would I have thought I could see the violet glow from the aurora borealis all the way down here in Reno,’ he wrote on X.

‘Saw a shooting star during the Northern Lights. That was magical,’ one person from Iowa wrote.

‘I just stood in my driveway in my pajamas and saw my first Northern Lights,’ she wrote. ‘They were faint but they were there! I actually gasped in awe when I saw them. I did not expect to be so moved,’ a woman from Minnesota who ran outside in her pajamas to catch a quick peak said.

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