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Northern lights dazzle in Minnesota Monday night: Photos

By FOX 9 Staff
Published  October 8, 2024 10:19am CDT
Weather
FOX 9

The Brief

    • The northern lights appeared in Minnesota on Oct. 7, 2024.
    • The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G3 geometric storm warning on Monday night that lasted into early Tuesday morning.
    • It's the latest geometric storm warning that helps set the stage for the possibility of seeing the northern lights. 

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The northern lights made an appearance over parts of Minnesota on Monday night. 

Background 

The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G3 geometric storm warning on Monday night that lasted into early Tuesday morning, according to a post on X. Many FOX 9 viewers submitted photos of the colorful lights spotted across the state on Oct. 7. 

The alert was just one of several recent geomagnetic storms that helped set the stage for the possibility of seeing the northern lights. Last week, NOAA forecast a G3 (or stronger) geomagnetic storm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, meaning the northern lights could have been visible as far south as Iowa over the past weekend. 

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center detected two solar flares that sparked two Earth-directed coronal mass ejections. The second of the two, detected on Thursday, was rated as an X9.0 flare – the strongest detected solar flare in about seven years.

Both events were expected to spark geomagnetic storms in Earth's atmosphere, which fuel the aurora. The lights spotted on Monday could have been the second flare NOAA detected. 

Northern Lights photos 

FOX 9 viewers shared photos of the northern lights spotted across the state on Monday. See the gallery below. 

Image 1 of 8
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Northern lights near East Bethel submitted by Carrie Bender.

From: Supplied

Tips for viewing the northern lights 

The NOAA recommends the following tips for the best chance to see the Northern Lights.

  • Go north and away from the city lights.
  • Go to areas with less light pollution. You can use this map to find the best spots near you.
  • Often, the best times to see the aurora are closer to midnight.
  • The spring and fall are often the best times to see the aurora, because "the subtleties in the way the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere" can create larger geomagnetic storms.