A show of the Northern Lights is coming to southwestern New York and northern Michigan, the National Weather Service says.
AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski says the maximum level of the aurora borealis will be expected for Thursday night in northern and western Michigan, and sometime around 2 a.m. Friday in southwest New York.
While there’s some uncertainty in timing due to storm activity, AccuWeather Meteorologist Jeff Masters says northern and western Michigan have the best chances of seeing the phenomenon.
Aurora are generated by the interaction of electrically charged particles from the sun with Earth’s magnetic field, accelerating them through Earth’s upper atmosphere.
This involves moving solar winds that can crash into the magnetic field and atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere and give off light.
The Northern Lights come in many varieties and colors — including green, orange, red, violet, white, and indigo.
“Similar to a solar eclipse, even though we can’t see the lights we can still feel and hear them,” Masters said.
The National Weather Service had previously predicted the aurora would be here for sometime this weekend.