Northern Lights Show Up for Summer

This photo from March shows the Northern Lights was taken in March by Guy Strong, who lives in Cedar, MI, just north of Traverse City. The images were taken in Leelanau County on Good Harbor Bay. (Photo used with permission)

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The Northern Lights are kicking up again this week in several parts of the country, thanks to impressive solar and geomagnetic storms Sunday.

The brilliant auroras made their appearance Monday night on the heels of the Sunday’s summer solstice. As Slate.com explained it:

“On Sunday, the summer solstice, a major explosion on the sun propelled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth at about 4 million miles per hour. It then swept up two smaller, slower coronal mass ejections from last week, creating one big smorgasbord of geomagnetic exuberance. The whole mess reached Earth on Monday afternoon with a bit more energy than expected.”

If you’d like a more scientific explanation for the neon-colored lights, The National Weather Service explains it in greater detail.

If you have photos, please send them to beth.dalbey@patch.com, along with your name and a brief description of where you were when you took them. Use the subject line “Summer Northern Lights.”

The geomagnetic storm was classified as a G4 – for comparison, if the auroras were tornadoes, they’d be classified as powerful F4s – and it rivals those seen in March.

The dazzling color show could be seen across North America and northern Europe, and it rivaled some of the best Northern Lights shows in years. The lights could be seen as far south as New York City, Chicago and Portland, OR, and even people in places like Oklahoma City and Charlotte, NC, may have seen a dull glow on the horizon.

Also on Patch: Look Up in the Sky As Venus and Jupiter ‘Collide’

In Michigan, storm clouds blocked the lights Monday night, but if the auroras make a return Tuesday, as is likely, the metro Detroit skies will be mostly clear, the National Weather Service says.

It might not be all fun and skygazing, The Washington Post reports. Potential effects on Earth include voltage control issues in power systems and high- and low-frequency radio system. Satellites may need to be righted for orientation.

Below is a collection of tweets showing pictures of the display at various locations.