{"id":285873,"date":"2025-11-11T19:32:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/285873\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T19:32:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:32:16","slug":"northern-lights-might-be-visible-tuesday-night-as-far-south-as-north-carolina-wral-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/285873\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Lights *might* be visible Tuesday night as far south as North Carolina :: WRAL.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

If we’re going to see Arctic weather, you might as well throw in Arctic phenomena too, right?<\/p>\n

Cold weather has nothing to do with the aurora borealis, but central North Carolina also has the chance to see a glimpse of the Northern Lights on Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The aurora is nearly impossible to guarantee this far south, but we’ll show you why there’s at least some potential<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch:\u00a0Will North Carolina see the northern lights tonight? A NASA ambassador shares what to expect<\/a><\/p>\n

A pair of coronal mass ejections (CMEs, also known as solar flares) are heading toward Earth. <\/p>\n

When these CMEs collide with the Earth’s magnetic field, it triggers a geomagnetic storm. The stronger that storm, the farther south the aurora can be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Space Weather Prediction Center with NOAA<\/a> says this storm is expected to be a G3\/strong storm.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

According to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute<\/a>, there is a chance that the aurora could be seen as far south as North Carolina after 10 or 11 p.m. Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You’d have to look low on the horizon and away from city lights.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Before you go placing bets on this, you should keep expectations somewhat limited. (Not to take away from any potential excitement.)<\/p>\n

Tony Rice, NASA ambassador and frequent contributor to WRAL.com, says there is some uncertainty in regards to the aurora’s visibility this far south.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The
\ntrouble is that there are two coronal mass ejections on their way, and we\u2019re
\nnot sure when they\u2019ll arrive. Timing confidence is “low to moderate\u201d
\nand \u201cmoderate to fair\u201d respectively,” Rice said. “If they arrive together, and are more
\nearth directed, that color could be more prominent.”<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Peter Forister, an experienced photographer in Charlottesville, Va., says there is a second flare that could trigger more potential Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

If you want to look north, get away from city lights after 10 or 11 p.m. Tuesday. Your best bet is to try to take photos with your phone’s night mode. The aurora is unlikely to be visible with the naked eye.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

It’s doubtful that you’ll see these dancing over your head like you would in some Scandinavian countries.<\/p>\n

If you are lucky enough to see lady aurora, send us your photos through wral.com\/reportit.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If we’re going to see Arctic weather, you might as well throw in Arctic phenomena too, right? Cold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[6626,25686,25685,79,41021,193],"class_list":["post-285873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-astronomy","tag-aurora-borealis","tag-northern-lights","tag-science","tag-skywatching","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}