Aurora Alert: Much Of Minnesota Could Get Northern Lights Show This Week

If the weather cooperates, much of Minnesota could get a Northern Lights show this week.

The Space Weather Prediction Center put out an alert for what they call a G2 Geomagnetic Storm Watch for Tuesday. Kind of like severe weather watches for weather on Earth, space weather watches mean the predicted event is possible.

This G2 storm watch is lower than the massive aurora event we saw back in May from a G4 storm, but it still brings with it a good chance of a show across much of Minnesota.

What's the timing for the best viewing?

The watch from the SWPC is for the early hours of July 24 in UTC time, which is the evening hours of July 23 in Minnesota. With last light of the day coming around 9:30 pm, once they sky is dark, there's an opportunity to see the Northern Lights through the overnight hours - as long as there aren't clouds. More on that in a bit.

The SWPC is saying the peak KP index levels (a measurement of the level of geomagnetic activity over a three-hour period) will line up perfectly with when it is dark in Minnesota.

READ MORE: These are scientifically the best viewing locations for Northern Lights in Minnesota

KP Index numbers should get above 5 by around 10 pm Minnesota time, with the peak (near KP 6) from 1:00 am to 4:00 am early Wednesday morning. While the best viewing chances might be during that window, there's still a solid chance during the entire overnight hours in Minnesota Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

What do those KP Index numbers mean?

In Minnesota, a KP Index of 5 can mean overhead Northern Lights in the northern half of Minnesota. A KP Index of 6 pushes that further south to include even more of the state. Seeing Northern Lights on the horizon is possible even further south.

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For this particular event, the SWPC issued a prediction that shows overhead chances across a sizable part of Minnesota, with the red line indicating where viewing the Northern Lights on the horizon could be possible. This includes all of Minnesota and nearly all of Wisconsin that could see the aurora at least on the horizon.

Will the weather cooperate?

All of this is well and good, but what if you can't see the night sky due to clouds? The forecast across Minnesota is showing decreasing clouds through the later parts of the day on Tuesday.

While we might not see a totally cloud-free sky, the forecast suggests cloud cover shouldn't totally ruin any viewing opportunities.

Here's a look at some listener-submitted Northern Lights photos from a great show last year: