Map: Who may see northern lights as coronal mass ejection hits Earth

(NEXSTAR) — Several states, primarily along the northern border, may have the chance to see the northern lights on Thursday.

A coronal mass ejection, or CME, was hurled out by the sun on Tuesday, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said. The CME, paired with a coronal hole high speed stream, or CH HSS, is "expected to cause geomagnetic storming" Thursday into Friday, according to an alert from the Space Weather Prediction Center.

CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic material from the sun, while a CH HSS refers to escaping solar winds from areas on the sun that are cooler and less dense. Both are capable of sparking auroras that we can see on Earth.

Current forecasting shows the strongest geomagnetic storming could happen Thursday, prompting a G2-level watch. Conditions are expe