Northern Lights: First G4 geomagnetic watch in nearly 20 years!

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We've had several folks asking great questions about this today, so here's an update on what to expect, when to expect it, and how the weather will cooperate!

For the first time in nearly 20 years (since 2005), a G4 Geomagnetic Watch has been issued as a major solar flare has sent a coronal mass ejection (CME) headed towards earth, set to arrive Friday afternoon/evening.

A lot of buzz on twitter and in the space weather community about this, as satellites like STEREO-A (https://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/) have started to pick up strong signals from this CME.

What does this mean for us in Colorado? Well, most of the time when these CMEs arrive, we usually only see them with long exposure cameras.

As you can see above, there is potential for visible aurora as far south as Oklahoma!

We're beginning to see clearing up in NE Colorado, with most of southeast Colorado stuck in cloud cover.

In Denver, we're seeing partly sunny skies as of 11:00am.

So... how will the cloud cover play out this evening? Well, through dinnertime, clouds will hang tough, especially up against the hills. But there will be brief peeks of clearing.

Check out the cloud coverage by midnight though! Big time clearing potential over northeast Colorado, including Denver and just to the northeast of Colorado Springs!

If we continue to see impact from this geomagnetic storm overnight, it's quite possible you could see this phenomenon with the naked eye, however, as always, you'll want to get away from city lights for your best chance!

Happy viewing!