SEATTLE — There is a chance to see the northern lights across all of Washington state on Thursday, according to a new forecast from the Space Weather Prediction Center.
Northern lights may also make an appearance on Wednesday night, but Thursday's forecast calls for a stronger possibility that they will appear. The weather will also be more cooperative, with a high-pressure system developing Thursday into Friday, allowing for a stretch of dry weather and mostly sunny conditions.
The view line for Thursday night's aurora forecast, which indicates where the lights may be seen, extends all the way into southern Oregon, meaning people in all areas of Washington state will have a shot at seeing the phenomenon.
The type of geomagnetic storm that causes the aurora borealis is called a Coronal Mess Ejection (CME) - it's a type of solar storm that blasts solar material into space. When that material collides with the Earth's atmosphere, the particles glow different colors as they shed energy. Parts of this storm will register as a G4 on a scale of one to five, which is considered to be severe. The storm will most likely register at a G3, which is considered "strong," when the northern lights will be visible over Washington state.
Solar material takes a while to travel through space. The CME that will begin to impact earth on Oct. 10 left the surface of the sun on Oct. 8.
Solar storms of this type can have detrimental impacts on technology and communication systems. An event like a CME can change the structure of Earth's outer atmosphere, where signals pass back and forth between satellites and technology on the ground. However, the ability to forecast these types of disruptions allows the public and commercial industries to account for potential impacts.
