Northern lights forecast: Intense auroras possible in Minnesota Friday night, Saturday morning (2024)

FAQs

Where can I see the Northern Lights in Minnesota tonight? ›

Voyageurs National Park is a newly certified International Dark Sky Park (opens in new window) offering expansive views of unpolluted skies from its waterways, where visitors can see impressive meteor showers and northern lights shows.

The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, can be visible in Minnesota all year long. The frequency of seeing the Northern Lights in Minnesota varies each year, but on average, the Aurora can be visible about 75-100 times per year. That's better than a 1-in-5 chance each day of the year!

The SWPC recommends traveling away from city lights to experience the full brightness of the aurora and to be looking at the skies within two hours of midnight, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time.

“When we get a more intense geomagnetic storm, then the aurora, which are usually confined to high latitudes in the polar regions extends down to lower latitudes to regions like California,” said Ian Cohen, a chief scientist who studies heliophysics at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

The small town of Ely in Minnesota's Arrowhead region is considered by many to be the "Aurora Capital of the U.S." Surrounded by the Superior National Forest, Ely offers pitch black skies and many scenic spots like Bear Head Lake State Park to view the Lights.

May, June, and July are not optimal for planning a trip to see the northern lights. As for clouds, November through March are your cloudiest months, and this leaves April, August, September, and October as the best months to view the aurora borealis.

2. Head north. The best way to see the northern lights is to head north.

The aurora borealis is viewed best September through April in the Northern Hemisphere. Stay up to date on the forecast—specifically atmospheric forecasts that predict geomagnetic storms, also known as disturbances in the Earth's magnetosphere, that often lead to northern lights displays, as seen last month.

First of all, you need to look north. This may sound simple, but in a dark landscape, it is easy to become disorientated. The northern lights don't always look green.

This is a short-term forecast of the location and intensity of the aurora. This product is based on the OVATION model and provides a 30 to 90 minute forecast of the location and intensity of the aurora.

How early can you predict Northern Lights? ›

15-45 Minutes: By measuring the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field upstream of Earth it is possible to forecast the aurora quite accurately but only with a short lead time of 15-45 minutes.

The aurora often occur for a few glorious minutes at a time. A good display may last between 15 and 30 minutes, although if you're really lucky, it could extend to a couple of hours or longer. To see the Northern Lights, the sky needs to be dark and clear of any clouds.

Unprecedented solar storms

The intense auroras were spawned by a series of massive solar flares and coronal mass ejections that erupted from the sun earlier this week, flinging wave after wave of charged solar particles toward Earth.

While solar wind is constant, the sun's emissions go through a roughly 11-year cycle of activity. Sometimes there's a lull, but other times, there are vast storms that bombard Earth with extreme amounts of energy. This is when the northern lights are at their brightest and most frequent.

How often do the Northern Lights appear? Every night is different and a lot depends on cloud cover alongside other factors. As our ships sail directly beneath the Auroral Zone, it's possible to see the lights more than once a night and even several times on our 12-day Classic Voyage.

The Northern Lights are rarely visible right from Minneapolis due to the strong light pollution, but to increase your chances, head out of the city lights.

The aurora often occur for a few glorious minutes at a time. A good display may last between 15 and 30 minutes, although if you're really lucky, it could extend to a couple of hours or longer.

The northern lights can be seen throughout the year, but are more prevalent in the fall and winter. The best place to view them is from waters edge on any of the many lakes in the area.