In a celestial surprise for much of the United States, the skies will glow with the colors of the aurora borealis tonight as a powerful geomagnetic storm pushes the Northern Lights far beyond their typical polar boundaries. From Michigan to California and even Alabama, Americans are in for a rare and spectacular show.

A rare and breathtaking spectacle is unfolding in the night skies over the United States. The northern lights — typically reserved for Arctic destinations like Iceland, Norway, or northern Canada — are expected to shimmer across large portions of the continental U.S. tonight, thanks to a “severe” geomagnetic storm striking Earth.

The aurora borealis is being driven unusually far south by a powerful solar eruption, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), which has slammed into Earth’s magnetic field. The event reached a G4 storm level — just one step below the most intense on the space weather scale, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center.

“This is going to be a great night to view the lights where skies are clear,” said Shawn Dahl, a NOAA coordinator, in a statement to The New York Times.

Areas with prime visibility include Washington State, Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, the Ohio Valley, and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. Unusually, even states as far south as Alabama may get a glimpse of the dancing auroras — a near-once-in-a-lifetime treat for skywatchers in those regions.

However, the forecast isn’t ideal everywhere. For New Yorkers hoping to witness the celestial display, there’s bad news: overcast skies are expected to persist throughout the night. “New York City isn’t looking great,” Peter Mullinax of the National Weather Service told the outlet.

The lights are caused when highly energized solar particles interact with Earth’s magnetosphere, a phenomenon that becomes visible as glowing green, pink, and purple waves in the sky. The more powerful the storm, the farther south these lights can travel — and Sunday night’s event is among the strongest in recent years.

For the best view, NOAA experts advise heading away from city lights and facing north — especially between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, which is expected to be the aurora’s peak.

“If you’re outside the city and it’s dark enough, you should start scanning the northern horizon as soon as night falls,” said Dahl. “Even if the lights aren’t visible to the naked eye, your smartphone camera may still be able to capture them.”

Clear skies will be key. Much of the Midwest and western U.S. is expected to have ideal viewing conditions, with cloudless forecasts across swaths of Montana, Idaho, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Colorado. Stargazers in these states are being urged to seize the opportunity, as such storms are infrequent and unpredictable.

Fortunately for viewers, one usual obstacle — the moon — won’t be an issue. “The moon is very young, so its brightness won’t interfere much with the visibility of the auroras,” Dahl confirmed.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center is also offering real-time updates and tracking of the auroral oval on its website, allowing skywatchers to gauge their best shot at seeing the lights.

Historically, the aurora has captivated humanity with its unearthly beauty and mysterious origin. Ancient cultures believed the lights to be spirits dancing in the sky or messages from the gods. Today, we understand that they are the result of solar storms — but their allure remains as magical as ever.

This latest solar storm was imaged Saturday by NOAA’s GOES-19 SUVI spacecraft, which detected the massive burst of solar material heading toward Earth. Within hours, the wave of charged particles was hammering our magnetic field and setting off a luminous reaction in the upper atmosphere.

Aurora sightings as far south as Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia have been confirmed during previous G4 events. Tonight’s storm may match — or even surpass — those rare episodes.

As Americans prepare to witness the skies erupt in color, scientists continue to monitor solar activity for future threats and phenomena. Extreme geomagnetic storms have the potential to interfere with satellites, GPS systems, and even power grids — though no such disruptions are expected from tonight’s event.

For now, the only disruption should be to sleep schedules, as countless enthusiasts venture out into the night to catch a glimpse of nature’s most ethereal performance.