Breaking: Sky Not Falling, Just Pretty Lights

Listen up, stargazers! If you missed the celestial rave last night, Mama Nature’s giving you another chance tonight. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center is calling for a Strong (G3) Geomagnetic Storm Watch. Buckle up, folks!

Shawn Dahl, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center Service Coordinator, spilled the cosmic tea to USA TODAY: “The underlying cause for this activity is decreasing as it passes over Earth, something called the coronal mass ejection, or CME for short. What that is a discharge and explosion of solar material and strong magnetic fields, and in this case, this happened the evening of the 8th of October and it arrived in force yesterday morning here.”

Basically, the sun sneezed, and we’re getting the cosmic Kleenex.

“And it is busy throughout the day with activity and severe storm levels with the type of response it provided,” Dahl added.

Want to catch the light show? Keep an eye on the prediction center's website for updates and conditions. The lights might not be as flashy as last night’s spectacle, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

Who Gets to See the Northern Lights?

According to the Aurora forecast tracker by the University of Alaska, you might spot the lights low on the horizon from Seattle, Des Moines, Chicago, Cleveland, and Boston between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET.

Dahl says the show will be visible in many states in the upper half of the U.S.

"Mainly, if we're reaching the G1 levels primarily as far Northern tier states, especially in the far upper Midwest up to the North Dakota, Minnesota areas," he said. "If we're a little stronger than that and hitting moderate levels, it'll extend a little further South to the Dakotas and that kind of the viewing parameter based off the normal green Aurora."

Get your cameras ready, folks! "We can anticipate people see in the Red Aurora capture it with their cameras."

Here are some states with a higher chance of spotting the aurora, according to the University of Alaska:

• Illinois
• Iowa
• Massachusetts
• Ohio
• Washington
• Wisconsin

What Are These Northern Lights Anyway?

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, happen when energized particles from the sun hit Earth's atmosphere at speeds up to 45 million mph, according to Space.com. Earth's magnetic field redirects these particles toward the poles, creating a stunning light show that has fascinated humans for millennia.

Why Different Colors?

Dahl explains that different molecules in our atmosphere result in different colors.

"A lot of times when the Aurora develops its interaction in lower levels of the atmosphere, that interact with types of molecules that send off green light," he said. "Red has not been seen as of late 'cause that's usually taking place much higher, almost double the altitude of where we're seeing the green colored Aurora. That's just because of the different states of energy and particles up there."

Will We See Them Again?

Good news, stargazers! Dahl says the northern lights will likely be visible again this year and for years to come.

"It's quite likely that the Aurora's gonna develop again before the end of the year," he said. "We're not done. We're gonna be on this roller coaster ride of solar maximum the rest of this year, all of next year and even 2026."

This article has been updated to add new information.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY.

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfineest.