Aurora Borealis observed in west Lethbridge on Thursday, October 10, 2024. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Strong possibility of Northern Lights returning to Alberta Friday

Oct 11, 2024 | 12:51 PM

People in many parts of Canada got to experience a powerful Aurora Borealis display on Thursday, October 10, and they might get another chance on Friday.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a severe geomagnetic storm alert on Wednesday, which is expected to continue Friday.

The red in the image below shows where there is the strongest likelihood of Northern Lights. The central and northern regions of Alberta are fully within the red zone, as are parts of southern Alberta. The rest of the south region still has a fair chance of seeing them.

Aurora forecast for October 11, 2024. (Photo: U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

NOAA estimates that the aurora lights should be the strongest between 6:00 p.m. on Friday and 6:00 a.m. on Saturday.

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The general guidance is that it is best to try to observe the Northern Lights within two hour hours before or after midnight and to do so away from city lights.

According to NOAA, geomagnetic storms occur when there is an exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth, which can result in a dazzling display of lights.

The Earth’s magnetic field shields us from much of it, but particles can travel down the magnetic field lines along the north and south poles and into Earth’s atmosphere.

When the particles interact with the gases in our atmosphere, they can produce light – blue and purple from nitrogen, green and red from oxygen.

NOAA says there is an approximately 11-year cycle where solar activity increases and decreases. We are currently at the high end of that cycle.