Where northern lights may shine amid geomagnetic storm watches

(NEXSTAR) – In addition to the blood moon lunar eclipse you could see this week, you may get the chance to see the northern lights following some strong activity on the sun.

The northern lights occur when material hurled out by the sun hits our atmosphere and interacts with its gases, which can also lead to geomagnetic storms.

Earlier this week, the sun ejected some of that material that could spark the aurora. The National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issued geomagnetic storm watches for Thursday and Friday over the expected impact of a coronal hole high speed stream, or CH HSS.

On Wednesday, the storm watches were extended through Saturday in response to coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, that erupted from the sun.

The SWPC’s watches suggest stronger conditions Friday and Saturday.

The arrival of all of this solar material could bring enough energy to cause the northern lights, at least in the northern portion of the U.S.

The three-day forecast from the SWPC suggests the geomagnetic storm........

© The Hill