Millions of people across 10 U.S. states could see the sky lit up by the northern lights on Christmas day, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) forecast.
The agency reported that a minor geomagnetic storm is expected on December 25 and 26 due to the arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME), an eruption of solar material and magnetic fields which makes the sighting of the northern lights -- or aurora borealis, as the phenomenon is also known -- more likely.
"The aurora may become visible along the horizon of northern tier and far north upper Midwest states," the agency wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on December 23.
The northern lights are one of the most spectacular natural phenomena on our planet and commonly occur within the so-called "Aurora Zone"-a geographic area that stretches between 66 degrees north and 69 degrees north and covers Iceland, southern Greenland, and the northern parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, and Alaska.
Occasionally, the northern lights can be seen outside of this geographic band when geomagnetic activity is high. Residents in parts of Iowa, Oregon, and Pennsylvania were lucky enough to glimpse the spectacle already in October this year.
Based on a map shared by the NOAA showing potential areas where the northern lights may be visible on Christmas Day due to the geomagnetic storm, people in parts of 10 states could be able to see the aurora borealis on Christmas night. These include Alaska, North Dakota and northern South Dakota, northern Idaho, northern Maine, northern Michigan, Minnesota, almost all of Montana, northern Washington, and Wisconsin.
People further north in these Midwestern states will have higher chances of seeing the lights.
The NOAA has an entire page offering tips on how to see the aurora on its website. First of all, people hoping to see the northern lights must go out at night. The lights can be elusive and even a full moon will diminish their brightness. Make sure you get away from city lights.
Hopeful viewers should gain a vantage point like the top of a hill, with an unobstructed view of the sky.
Finally, the best chances of seeing the northern lights occur within an hour or two of midnight, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. While you might be able to see the lights before or after this time frame, they're not as "visually appealing," according to the agency.
Tamitha Skov, a space weather physicist, on X: "Santa's sleigh is bringing us a holiday #solarstorm complete with #aurora! We could get views down to mid-latitudes by Christmas Day. Big flare players promise more solar flare fireworks as well."
After a particularly good year for auroral activity, this might not be your last chance to see the northern lights. Forecasters are expecting them to be particularly active in 2025 as well and potentially appear outside the Arctic Circle.