Silhouetted crowd holding up phones to photograph green and pink northern lights glowing over the sea near a lighthouse at night.
Ian Forsyth / Getty Images

Geomagnetic Storms May Put the Northern Lights Within Reach from New York to Idaho for the Next 48 Hours

  • Updated

The northern lights could be visible from New York to Idaho on Sunday, Oct. 11, when 2 eruptions of solar material are expected to reach Earth.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a watch for a moderate G2 geomagnetic storm, triggered by two coronal mass ejections that erupted from the sun on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8. Forecasters expect the faster one to catch up and merge with the first on the way here.

Aurora borealis glowing in the night sky above the Wenzel church in Wartberg ob der Aist, Upper Austria.
The Northern Lights illuminate the sky over the Wenzel church in Wartberg ob der Aist, Upper Austria, on Jan. 19, 2026. Photo by SCHARTNER/TEAM FOTOKERSCHI / AFP via Getty Images.

That collision is what lights up the sky. Charged particles from the sun slam into Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, and the stronger the storm, the farther from the poles the color spreads.

If the forecast holds, the aurora could be visible as far south as a band stretching from New York west to Idaho. NOAA rates these storms from G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme), with Sunday’s forecast at G2 (moderate).

People gathered near St Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, England, watching the northern lights glow in the night sky
Crowds gather at St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, England, to watch the aurora borealis light up the sky during a solar storm on May 10, 2024. Photo by Ian Forsyth / Getty Images.

A sighting isn’t guaranteed anywhere. The storm’s actual strength, cloud cover, and local light pollution all decide whether you see anything at all. Your best shot is somewhere dark, away from city lights, looking north.