Northern Lights: Faint auroras might be visible from Long Island Thursday and Friday nights

A burst of solar energy may make faint auroras visible across parts of the northern United States on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, weather officials said, though chances to see colorful skies on Long Island are slim. 

An eruption off the sun on Monday triggered a minor geomagnetic storm watch for Thursday and a moderate geomagnetic storm watch for Friday, according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.

The presence of the auroras “is not expected to be a widespread event and will likely only last for short intervals and could be quite faint in the affected locales," NOAA meteorologist Mike Bettwy said in an email. 

He said there is “only a slight chance,” given the current forecast, that the auroras are visible from Long Island. Clouds are expected to limit viewing in parts of the Northeast and near the Great Lakes, according to Bettwy.

NOAA’s aurora forecast shows Alaska, Washington, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine have the best chance to see potential auroras, though it could also dip into sections of Idaho, Wyoming, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.

Unless the storm exceeds current expectations, officials said significant communications disruptions are not expected.

Ken Spencer, president of the Astronomical Society of Long Island, said skies will need to be clear to have any chance of seeing an aurora. Getting away from city lights will also be necessary, he said.

“The killer for Long Island is light pollution,” Spencer said. “Generally, when it’s a lesser flare and it’s fainter, it’s obscured by all of the light pollution."

Last month, a powerful solar flare caused rare vibrant-colored skies on Long Island. Shades of purple, pink, red and green were observed across Nassau and Suffolk counties. In May, a separate solar storm made auroras visible as far south as Florida.

With AP

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ