Forget fireworks and forget drone shows—this week the universe itself will hold the ultimate light display. Thanks to a rowdy Sun hurling charged particles our way, the Northern Lights are set to crash America’s backyard party two nights in a row.

Think of it as Mother Nature’s neon screen saver, only bigger, quieter, and completely free of charge (unless you count frostbite). From Alaska down through the northern states, skies could glow green and purple just in time for your midnight snack run. And unlike your neighbor’s porch lights, this glow is one you’ll actually want to look at.

Why solar storms fuel the Northern Lights

Every so often, the Sun, which acts pretty much like a leaf blower, blasts a gust of charged particles into space at more than a million miles per hour. This week’s gust comes from a coronal-hole high-speed stream, with an extra shove from a CME released on August 17.

When the charged cloud slams into Earth’s magnetic field, field lines bend and snap like stretched rubber bands, flinging particles toward the poles. Up high, those particles slam into oxygen and nitrogen atoms, switching on green, purple, and red neon in the night sky. The stronger the solar storm, the farther south that neon reaches.

Where and when to watch the Northern Lights

If you live in Alaska, northern Canada, or the northern tier of the Lower 48, you’re in the bull’s-eye. NOAA’s aurora viewline shows solid chances for:

Alaska,
Washington,
Idaho,
Montana,
North and South Dakota,
Minnesota,
Wisconsin,
Michigan,
and Maine.

Should the storm slightly over-perform, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and even parts of Massachusetts could score a glow as well.

Canadians from Yukon and Northwest Territories clear across to Newfoundland should be on alert, too. The prime window runs 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time, with activity most likely around midnight to 2 a.m. Plan for both Monday and Tuesday nights; forecasts give a 65 percent shot at Kp 5 on the first night and 40 percent on the second.

Your five-step viewing game plan

Watch the Kp index. Free apps such as SpaceWeatherLive or NOAA push alerts the minute Kp hits 5.
Drive north and go dark. A ten-minute hop from town lights can transform a washed-out sky into a high-contrast canvas. Face north; the lights usually fan out from that horizon.
Give your eyes time. It takes 20 minutes for night vision to ramp up. Skip phone screens until after the show starts.
Dial in your camera. Phone night modes work, but a DSLR on a tripod with a wide-open lens (f/2.8), ISO 1600, and a 10-second exposure turns faint ribbons into electric green waterfalls.
Layer up and linger. Temperatures can drop sharply after midnight in August. Pack a thermos, bring a folding chair, and be ready to wait; auroras love dramatic entrances.

What the data says

NOAA’s latest 3-day forecast calls for Kp 5 bursts between 03:00 and 09:00 UTC on both August 19 and 20, thanks to that coronal-hole stream. Statistically, a storm of this size pushes the aurora viewline to roughly 50° N geomagnetic latitude—right through Minneapolis and Montreal. By comparison, the strong May 2024 storm needed a heftier Kp 7 to flood skies as far south as North Carolina. In short, this week’s glow is less intense but still rare, and it comes with a two-night guarantee.

This kind of opportunity doesn’t last long, and neither do chances to see the Northern Lights dance above your backyard. With two consecutive nights of geomagnetic action on tap, all you need is a clear forecast, a dark horizon, and a bit of patience. Slip outside, look north, and you might catch nature’s best free light show before dawn steals the stage—and before the Sun calms back down for another decade.