Any hope for seeing the Northern Lights in the FLX Friday Night?

Northern Lights in the Finger Lakes?

Our planet is currently being bombarded by a “G5- Extreme” solar storm event, which will result in an expansive display of the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights.

However, after a dreary day of rain and clouds, is there any hope for seeing them here in the Finger Lakes?

Actually, maybe. For some.

Skies over Western New York are actually already clear, and the latest high-res modeling shows some of that clearing spilling into the Finger Lakes overnight.

The further west, the better the chances for clear skies.

However, this will probably not start to take hold until after midnight. The closer we get to dawn, the more clearing we should see.

While maybe not best for a full night’s sleep, the most intense portion of the solar storm is expected to be between 2-4 am, based on some NOAA projections I have seen. This actually coincides fairly well with the modeled clearing.

As an added bonus, the moon will not rise until after 5 AM as just a tiny sliver, with the new moon occurring just 2 days ago. Natural light pollution will be a non-factor.

Now, a couple of need-to-know caveats to consider before setting your alarms for the middle of the night:

1. Models struggle with cloud cover, especially when it comes to clouds breaking up and giving way to clearing skies. The good news is that there is already clearing nearby, a fact which supports the models in this case.
2. Forecasting the northern lights is way harder and less reliable than almost anything in the weather. I am certainly no expert here, and am just passing along the information I am seeing so far. There have been many times where hopeful events fizzle away to nothing. But, good news here too… this event is already ongoing, it is already strong, and is already (from what I can tell) unlike any event Earth has seen since 2005.

Happy Aurora Hunting!