The Northern Lights Could Be Dancing In The West Michigan Skies Saturday Night

I'm too much of a space novice to get into great details as to why the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, will be on display this weekend. (It involves magnetic activity and solar flares, or so I'm told)

The bottom line is this, West Michigan could be a great place to see the light show, and the best chance for that will be late Friday, early Saturday.

If we could shake this late summer cloud cover, the Lights would probably be visible here in West Michigan, however, it doesn't appear we will shake the clouds until Saturday afternoon, and at that point, the view of the Lights may be spotty.

A strong solar flare launched off the sun Wednesday afternoon, and that will kick off a moderate to strong geomagnetic storm that sets off an expansion of Aurora Borealis, the so called Northern Lights across Canada and the Northern United States.

The most intense showing of the Lights will be Friday night into Saturday morning, and the flare that sets the storm off could also cause power and communications disruptions across the nation.

According to the Geophysical Institute's Aurora Forecast site, effects from the flares could reach the Earth tonight, resulting in active aurora displays. The heightened activity could last for several days. The viewing potential for a hopefully clear Saturday night is still strong, but the Lights will be lower on the horizon for those of us in the Lower Peninsula.

If you want to travel northward, viewing opportunities will exist from Gaylord north to Newberry Friday night, as they will shake the clouds faster than we will. The farther west and north you into the Upper Peninsula, the better your chances of seeing the Lights both Friday and Saturday nights.

Here's a map showing the optimal viewing spots for Friday night.

All this talk reminds me of a Neil Young song.