Gallery: Northern Lights light up the sky
Silver Bay, Jamie and Andrew. September 18/19
On Monday, the Storm Track Weather Team said the Northern Lights would be visible for most of the region, and from the response from viewers – the Aurora Borealis did not disappoint. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center had said we would have a minor-to-moderate geomagnetic storm on Monday.
If you remember, Brandon Weatherz did a Weatherz School on the Northern Lights in August, 2022. The two main factors in viewing the aurora are geomagnetic activity and your location. The Planetary K-index (Kp-index) rates geomagnetic activity on a scale of zero to nine. A large swath of Canada can view the aurora on days with low geomagnetic activity. The Northland needs a Kp-index of 5 for a shot at the northern lights, and that requires a minor geomagnetic storm.
On Monday, the minor geomagnetic storm was a G1 with a planetary k (Kp) index of 5.
Brandon Weatherz says green auroras are the most common, but the full spectrum ranges from pink auroras within 100 kilometers of the surface to red auroras more than 200 kilometers above the surface. We saw a broad spectum of colors from viewers across Minnesota, Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan.
Here are some of the pictures we received from our viewers. You can email weather@wdio.com if you have pictures of the Northern Lights from Monday.
Northern Lights above Kelly Lake. Wanda Belich Blue Moon Road in Drummond. Kelly Randolph Northern Lights. Healther Bunes Near Ely Lake Saturday morning. Craig Himmelright Aurora's near Tamarack. Lacey Wilkie Northern Lights over International Falls. Holly Nicholson Northern Lights over Lake Superior. Miranda Moore Northern Lights on December 1. Karen Bodin Northern Lights on Lake Leander in Britt. Susan Borich Northern Lights from the Deer Shack. Jon Pessenda Northern Lights from Wisconsin Point in December. Matthew Carlson Northern Lights over Barnum on Dec. 12. Roxy Hurst Camping at Fisherman's Point. Renee Boudreau Side Lake, Ann Grozdanich Silver Rapids Lodge, Allie Kroeger Northern Lights at Leonidas Point. Missy SeitherKeast Pike Lake at 10:30 PM. Kelly Jo Riley Palisade Head at Tettegouche. Limitless Vistas Photography Sandstone sky. Michelle Lyn Cansfield International Falls. Holly Nicholson Rainy Lake RV. Pamela Jenson Piedmont neighborhood. Camille Danielle The big dipper in Solon Springs. Danielle Kastern Lighthouse. Jesse Nord Sky in Minong. Alicia Lee Silver Bay, Jamie and Andrew. September 18/19 Grand Marais, David Johnson. September 18/19 Bessemer, Michigan from Amy Warrick, September 18/19 Sky over Blackhoof in Carlton County. Nanette Blom September 18/19 Capturing the Aurora in Aurora, Craig Himmelright. View in Oulu, Wisc. Anna Merritt September 18/19 Splithand area near Grand Rapids. Heather Marie September 18/19 Sky over Knife River at 10:30 PM from Kiera Wilson Lakewood on September 18/19. Casey Manderfeld Up the Echo Trail near Ely, Lindsey Keen Knife River, Sara Cuypers September 18/19 Cherry area on September 18. Jocelyn Jagello Cloquet/Saginaw area LuAnn Danger Mountain Iron/Virginia area. Tomieka Defoe Sturgeon Lake. Veronica Marie. Sky over Ely. Heather Fitzgerald Streaks over Meadowlands. Robin Johnson Jean Duluth neighborhood. Amy Hill Lundberg
