Space

Frigid temperatures across much of the U.S. didn’t stop people from getting outside to witness a stunningly beautiful display of the northern lights.

Northern Lights Invade South In Rare Display

From Wisconsin down to Florida, the northern lights put on a dazzling show across huge swaths of the United States, pushing much farther south than usual.

Colder temperatures Tuesday night didn’t stop enthusiastic skywatchers from getting outside and capturing the brilliant colors as they blazed across the sky.

Space weather forecasters say a rare level of solar storm is what made the northern lights visible so far into the South.

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The Aurora Borealis lights up the night sky over Monroe, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, during one of the strongest solar storms in decades. The geomagnetic event pushes the northern lights deep into the continental United States, with vibrant pink, red, and green hues illuminating rural farmsteads and open fields across the Midwest.
(Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The aurora borealis glows above along near Bloomington, Indiana, in rural Monroe County on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, as a strong geomagnetic storm from recent solar activity pushes the northern lights unusually far south. Displays were reported across the United States as far south as Texas, Alabama, Georgia and north Florida.
(Photo by Jeremy Hogan/Getty Images)

In the last few days, the sun has blasted out charged particles toward Earth in what’s called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, creating geomagnetic storms over North America.

Last night’s storm reached a rare G4 level and was nearing a G5, the strongest ranking on NOAA’s space weather scale. These levels of storms can disrupt electrical grids, cell towers and GPS communications, but they also produce stunning aurora borealis.

If you missed last night’s show, bundle up and try heading out tonight. The final and most energetic CME is racing toward our atmosphere Wednesday, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center, promising another illuminating night.

(MORE: Tips & Settings For Shooting The Night Sky On Your Phone)

Will the skies be clear where you live? You can find that out and see how cold it could be by checking out of extended forecast map.

The northern lights fill the sky behind the Saint Joseph the Woodworker Shrine Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, near Valley Falls, Kan. — The northern lights fill the sky behind the Saint Joseph the Woodworker Shrine Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, near Valley Falls, Kansas.
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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