KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A promising opportunity to spot the northern lights arises late Saturday through the early morning hours on Sunday in Michigan.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, or SWPC, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a fast-moving coronal mass ejection left the sun’s surface Friday.
A coronal mass ejection, or CME, is an eruption of plasma from the sun’s surface.
If the explosion of charged particles happens on the sun’s Earth-facing side, as was the case Friday, those on a trajectory towards Earth can impact our planet’s geomagnetic field once they arrive.
This interaction, referred to as a geomagnetic storm, causes the aurora, or northern lights, at higher latitudes.
The arrival of Friday’s CME was expected late Saturday through early Sunday, Mar. 22-23, 2025. This prompted a strong (G3) geomagnetic storm watch from the SWPC.
A G3 geomagnetic storm is infrequent but not uncommon, according to SWPC forecasters.
If the forecast verifies, it would likely be strong enough to produce aurora across most of Michigan under ideal viewing conditions.
Skies are predicted to remain partly cloudy after dark, which means most of Michigan should have a decent chance of seeing the show.
- Forecast: WWMT.com/Weather
While pinpointing an exact viewing time is difficult, forecasts from the SWPC suggest that activity may ramp up between 11 p.m. and midnight.
A lot has to go right for a vibrant aurora display in West Michigan, so it’s always best to keep your expectations low. It’s not uncommon for a CME to arrive several hours early, late, or even miss Earth entirely despite a promising forecast.
We recommend checking the SWPC aurora dashboard for more updates after sunset. There’s usually about a 30 minute lead-time on larger spikes in aurora activity.
Capturing the northern lights normally requires a long exposure photo. Many newer smartphones also have nighttime photo settings which perform well.
The more recent uptick in northern lights activity is linked to the fact the sun is in the most active phase of its 11-year cycle. This translates to more coronal mass ejections from the sun’s surface, which send charged particles towards Earth.
Best of luck if you plan on trying to spot the aurora! if you venture out and happen to get a picture, be sure to share them with our Chime In page for a chance to be featured on-air and online.
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