Western Washington could get a rare glimpse of the aurora borealis this weekend
With clear skies predicted for the upcoming Halloween weekend, Seattle skywatchers might be in for a rare celestial event.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center issued a "strong" geomagnetic storm watch for Oct. 30-31, predicting that a coronal mass ejection — or solar flare — that erupted from the sun on Thursday would result in elevated auroral activity over the weekend.
The solar flare releases charged particles that interact with the earth's magnetic fields, supercharging the natural phenomenon known as the northern lights and making their glow even more visible.
"A G3 storm has the potential to drive the aurora further away from its normal polar residence and if other factors come together, the aurora might be seen over the far Northeast, to the upper Midwest, and over the state of Washington," wrote the Prediction Center in an update Friday.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/look-up-western-washington-could-get-a-rare-glimpse-of-the-aurora-borealis-this-weekend/ar-AAQ6ELZ
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It so often happens that we're socked in when these occur.
