Northern Lights Possible Sunday Night Over Connecticut

The Northern Lights may be visible tonight over Connecticut late Sunday night and early Monday morning as a result of a geomagnetic storm from the sun. The best opportunity to see the Northern Lights is in northern New England but it is possible that they can be seen as far south as Connecticut.

The best viewing times are 11 p.m.-2 a.m., and remote locations with darker skies are best. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

It’s all weather permitting, of course. Fortunately the skies look nice and clear tonight in Connecticut. Other northern U.S. cities that could see the aurora borealis are Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Buffalo and Detroit, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Most of Canada will see the phenomenon.

The solar flare that increased the chances for an aurora display exploded on the sun late Thursday and early Friday morning, throwing a huge cloud of solar particles into space. According to the Weather Network, x-rays sent out by the solar storm knocked out radio power over parts of Asia.

Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Story by Beth Dalbey, Patch staff