• The aurora borealis may be visible as far south as mid-Michigan on April 16 and north of Saginaw Bay on April 17.
• Clear skies are expected across much of Michigan on Wednesday, April 16, providing favorable viewing conditions.
• The G3 storm could cause minor disruptions to satellite navigation and radio frequencies.

Solar storms forecast for today could allow the northern lights to shimmer over parts of Michigan on April 16, NOAA said.

A strong, or G3 level, solar storm has been observed, NOAA said on its space weather prediction website.

A G3 storm can require voltage corrections, and trigger false alarms on some protection devices. Such storms also can cause intermittent satellite navigation and low-frequency radio navigation problems and interfere with high frequency radio.

NOAA said auroras have been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon with similar solar events.

Auroras do not need to be directly overhead, NOAA said, but can be observed from as much as 1,000 kilometers away when the aurora is bright, and if conditions are right.

What’s the aurora borealis forecast for April 16-17?

NOAA says the northern lights could reach as far south as the Upper Peninsula and appear to viewers as far south as mid-Michigan on April 16 and north of Saginaw Bay on April 17.

The “viewing line” for seeing the aurora on April 16 extends across Michigan south of Saginaw Bay.

For April 17, the viewing line in Michigan moves farther north, to about Ludington and the north of Saginaw Bay.

How strong are the solar events?

The predicted geomagnetic storm for April 16 is G3 and for April 17 is G1, or minor.

The Kp rating for April 16 ranges from 3.33 to 5.33, while on April 17 the Kp levels will be between 2.67 and 5.33.

The higher the number, the more likely an aurora will be visible in lower latitudes. Kp5 is likely to produce a “moderate” aurora, NOAA said.

Will the weather be clear to see the northern lights?

The National Weather Service in Grand Rapids said to expect clear skies Wednesday, April 16. Thursday will see increasing clouds and thunderstorms overnight.

Skies are expected to be clear Wednesday in southeast Michigan, with rain moving in Thursday night.

In northern Michigan, the Gaylord NWS office said clear skies will hang around until Thursday night when rain begins.

Tonight will be clear in the UP as well, with sunny weather Thursday turning to rain Thursday night.

What causes the aurora or northern lights?

The aurora is formed from interactions between the solar wind streaming out from the sun and Earth’s protective magnetic field, or magnetosphere, NOAA said. The aurora is one manifestation of geomagnetic activity or geomagnetic storms.

As the solar wind increases in speed and the interplanetary magnetic field embedded in the solar wind turns southward, the geomagnetic activity will increase and the aurora will become brighter, more active, and move further from the poles.

Even moderate solar wind creates aurora, so there is usually a weak aurora somewhere even when there isn’t a big geomagnetic storm.

The different colors of the aurora are produced when different atmospheric atoms and molecules are excited to various energy levels.