Aurora Borealis Expected To Put On A Show Tonight For The Midwest

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Nov 3, 2015 6:57PM

Aurora over cornfields (Photo by via the Chicagoist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)

The Northern Lights are expected to perform Tuesday night, and a large swath of the Northern U.S. that includes most of the Midwest should be able to catch the show.

Accuweather put together a map that shows where people in Canada and the Northern U.S. will be able to see the phenomenon known as aurora borealis. The lights are expected to be most visible from Nebraska to New Hampshire. Illinois is right in the sweet spot—though experts say you'll need to get away from the city and its light pollution to see the dancing lights in their full glory. (And watch out for clouds, too, which will block the view.)

The lights are the consequence of a big solar storm that started raging Monday night. The magnetic storm reached G3 levels (you can read what that means here. The storm was caused by a —thanks to a coronal hole, which allows solar wind to escape more rapidly. NOAA says the storm has dropped down to G1 levels, but they could hit G3 levels again. The storm is expected to continue through tomorrow, possibly hitting G2 levels.

Here's are some gorgeous shots from Minnesota last night:

And one from central Iowa:

And if you don't see aurora, Accuweather says you might catch a pretty cool consolation prize: the Taurids meteor shower is going on now. The shower will peak Nov. 12, and it will last until the middle of November.