{"id":622553,"date":"2026-06-05T11:28:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/622553\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:28:20","slug":"a-strong-geomagnetic-storm-means-auroras-about-to-light-up-canadas-skies-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/622553\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018strong\u2019 geomagnetic storm means auroras about to light up Canada\u2019s skies – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much of Canada might be able to see the northern lights dance across the skies over the coming nights.<\/p>\n

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The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s (NOAA) northern lights forecast<\/a> signals \u201cstrong\u201d G-3 magnitude geomagnetic storms<\/a> Thursday and Friday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn June 3, multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs) erupted from the sun, and are projected to reach the Earth sometime in the next 24 hours,\u201d said Taylor Cameron, a space weather duty forecaster for the Canadian Hazards Information Service, in an emailed statement to Global News.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Hazards Information Service is part of Natural Resources Canada.<\/p>\n

With these particles from space colliding with atoms and molecules in Earth\u2019s atmosphere, they can cause the colourful glow called auroras.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a [coronal mass ejection] interacts with the Earth\u2019s magnetic field, it can trigger a geomagnetic storm. These storms can cause issues with technologies such as radio communications, GPS, and in very extreme cases, with the power grid. They can also trigger brilliant auroral displays in locations farther south than normal,\u201d Cameron said.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\tWhen will the best chance to see the aurora be?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Northwest Territories have the most exposure to the lights, as, according to the Spectacular Northwest Territories.<\/p>\n

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Yukon is very similar in this regard, with Whitehorse anchoring the territory\u2019s northern lights tourism<\/a>. Thanks to vast wilderness, minimal light pollution, and high latitude, conditions for viewing the lights are extremely suitable.<\/p>\n

Destination Canada<\/a> has also regarded Ontario\u2019s Manitoulin Island and Pukaskwa National Park as places where Canadians can \u201coccasionally\u201d see the auroras, especially on autumn nights.<\/p>\n

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Cameron said Canadian officials are \u201ccurrently forecasting an arrival and subsequent storm starting in the late evening, but the CMEs could arrive hours earlier or later.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have declared a major geomagnetic storm watch for the auroral zone from 20:00 EDT tonight to 10:00 EDT tomorrow morning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With a G-3 geomagnetic storm, that means much of Canada may be able to see the aurora.<\/p>\n

Geomagnetic storms are ranked by their strength on the following levels:<\/p>\n

G-1: Minor, aurora may be seen across the PrairiesG-2: Moderate, aurora may reach down to southern OntarioG-3: Strong, aurora may be seen across CanadaG-4: Severe, aurora may be seen down to AlabamaG-5: Extreme, aurora may be seen down to Florida\t\t\t \t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:18
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNorthern lights seen as far south as Kingston amid solar activity surge\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

These storms typically occur 15 days out of the year, with events being more frequent during solar-maximum years.<\/p>\n

Cameron says those looking for the best chance to see the lights should \u201cget as far away from city lights as possible, find clear skies, and to look north.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe brightness of the aurora can change quickly from minute to minute during a storm, so it can help to be patient,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

He also stated that the aurora will be difficult to see with the naked eye but will be \u201cclearly visible\u201d through a phone camera.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much of Canada might be able to see the northern lights dance across the skies over the coming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[3398,626,1397,31559,3539,90,56,54,55,1068],"class_list":["post-622553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-aurora-borealis","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-geomagnetic-storms","tag-northern-lights","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}