Northern Lights Could Be Visible Monday in Illinois. Will Skies Be Clear Enough to See Them?
People in at least 30 states including Illinois Sunday night may have been able to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights, and Monday brings yet another chance to see them.
According to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, a "full-halo" CME -- a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s corona -- occurred Friday, making it likely to cause "minor" to "moderate" geomagnetic storming on Sunday and Monday.
As a result, dancing waves of light, also called aurora borealis, appeared across the United States Sunday night. And according to NOAA officials, those chances could extend into Monday night as well.
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According to a tweet from NOAA, "geomagnetic storm conditions at Strong (G3) or greater levels are expected to continue until April 24 at 0600 UTC.
However, conditions and cloud cover Monday may not prove as favorable as they did Sunday.
What an amazing #NorthernLight Show in #Volo IL this evening just wow. The #Solarwind was literally flickering in the sky. No words can describe what I saw tonight just wow. pic.twitter.com/ph32bv0eJs — Dirk Leahy (@DLeahy23) April 24, 2023
Although Monday is expected to be partly sunny, increasing clouds are expected to move in late Monday and into overnight. That means, NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman says, clouds may obstruct your view.
And a tweet from the National Weather Service agrees.
"Unfortunately, we are expected cloud cover to increase this evening as showers begin to lift into the area so viewing is not looking to be the best from a weather perspective."
Unfortunately we are expecting cloud cover to increase this evening as showers begin to lift into the area so viewing is not looking to be the best from a weather perspective. — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) April 24, 2023
If the clouds do clear up however, the best viewing will between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., away from dark areas and city lights, according to NOAA.
Forecasters say that solar weather is notoriously tricky to predict, and that forecasts could change quickly, so be sure to keep an eye on the NBC 5 app for all the latest updates from NASA and the National Weather Service.
Source: NBC Chicago
