A car crosses Hulah Dam under the glow of the northern lights on Nov. 11, 2025, during a rare aurora sighting in northern Oklahoma.

Major solar activity could make the northern lights visible in more than a dozen states this week.

According to an alert from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center, large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun — known as a coronal mass ejection — are expected to reach earth around mid-day on Dec. 9, likely causing increased geomagnetic activity.

On the K-index scale — which indicates how far away from the poles the northern lights could be visible — NOAA is predicting a 5 out of 9 for Dec. 9. A Kp score around 3-5 indicates a brighter aurora, per NOAA.

On another geomagnetic storm scale, NOAA ranks the event a G1, which is considered a minor event.

The northern lights, a natural phenomenon formally known as the aurora borealis, can project colorful lights in the night sky because of an interaction between the sun's plasma and Earth's magnetic field, according to the National Weather Service.

When could the northern lights be visible?

The aurora is not visible during daylight hours and is usually seen just after sunset or just before sunrise. The best view of the northern lights is generally within an hour or two of midnight, according to NOAA.

Where could the northern lights be visible?

Parts of about 15 states are partially or fully within NOAA's forecasted "view line" for the northern lights on Dec. 9. The view line indicates the southernmost point where the aurora could be seen on the northern horizon.

However, the forecast is only a prediction.

"The aurora does not need to be directly overhead but can be observed from as much as 1000 km away when the aurora is bright and if conditions are right," NOAA's website says.

For example, during an strong event on Nov. 11, sky gazers reported seeing the auroras in southern states like Texas, Florida, Colorado — which were all beyond the forecasted view line for that night.

The following states could catch a glimpse of the aurora, according to NOAA's forecasted view line:

  • Alaska
  • Idaho
  • Iowa
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • New Hampshire
  • New York
  • North Dakota
  • South Dakota
  • Vermont
  • Wyoming
  • Washington
  • Wisconsin

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Northern lights could be visible in a dozen states. See where.

Reporting by Melina Khan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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