NOTTINGHAM, MD—A massive solar flare could bring the Northern Lights to Maryland this weekend.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center says a G3 (Strong) Geomagnetic Storm Watch is in effect for October 30 – 31, 2021, following a significant solar flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the sun that occurred around 11:35 a.m. EDT on Oct. 28.

This means auroras could descend to mid-latitudes…places like Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, Maryland, Virginia. The CME’s arrival time is uncertain.  Estimates range from midday on October 30th to the early hours of October 31st.

“This could be a great show for people in the mid-to-upper U.S. latitudes for aurora,” said C. Alex Young, NASA’s associate director for science at the Heliophysics Division of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. “Especially those in Canada, [Upper Peninsula of Michigan], Alaska, Iceland, Norway, Scotland, etc.”

For more information, visit the Space Weather Prediction Center.

A G3 geomagnetic storm watch has been issued for October 30. Visit https://t.co/DeCEKjoqF6 for the latest information. pic.twitter.com/XMG4EZEbcu

— NOAA Space Weather (@NWSSWPC) October 29, 2021