VIDEO: Suddenly Northern Lights Visible Over Missouri Monday
Well, this was more than a little unexpected. The Northern Lights were visible so far south early Monday morning that multiple locations captured video of the sky spectacle.
I first saw Dan Bush from the Missouri Skies YouTube channel share video of the Northern Lights. I believe they're based out of Albany, Missouri. Watch the red suddenly dance over the horizon.
Then, I saw a share on the Missouri sub-Reddit showing another perspective of the Aurora Borealis from a different place in Missouri.
According to NASA, this mid-December appearance of the Northern Lights as far south as Missouri was due to a flurry of solar activity that began impacting Earth's magnetosphere. They said that the Northern Lights visible early Monday morning during the overnight hours was due to "several coronal mass ejections that were observed on December 14 and 15".
While many of these solar storms are somewhat unpredictable, you can follow NOAA's Aurora Dashboard for advanced forecasts for when the next time the Aurora Borealis will find its way this far south.
Listener-Submitted Photos Of The Incredible Northern Lights Show On September 18, 2023
Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper