A G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm watch was issued Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, which said the northern lights could be visible in Idaho Thursday and Friday evening.

Will the Northern Lights be visible from Boise? Or will the clouds prevent residents from seeing them?

Here’s what we know so far.

Will Boise see the aurora borealiss?

Bryan Brasher, project manager at the Space Weather Predictions Center in Los Angeles, California, said the solar flare was ejected from the sun Tuesday evening. The resulting storm reached Earth around 11 a.m. Thursday.

According to NOAA’s experimental aurora dashboard, the storm was expected to produce aurora borealis Thursday evening.

“The best time to see is more or less a few hours around midnight local. However, if there’s a particularly strong storm, you can see it at any time,” Brasher told the Idaho Statesman by phone. “The main thing is to be available in a dark place with clear skies and look at the northern horizon and see what you can see. It could almost look like a light green cloud or, you know, a fog.

But even if Boise was in the expected line of sight, it was unclear whether cloud cover would allow residents to have a good view.

Will Boise have clouds during the Northern Lights?

Jackson Macfarlane, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise, said there was a chance of cloud cover Thursday evening. The weather service’s website also showed scattered conditions Thursday evening.

“Current satellite images show an area of ​​clear skies like Ontario and northwestern Ontario, but most models maintain at least some high clouds over Boise and the Treasure Valley, at least until ‘at midnight,” Macfarlane said by telephone.

If you’re up at that time, you might want to go outside and look toward the northern horizon.

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