HANSVILLE, Wash. — A brilliant display of the Northern Lights shimmered above the skies of Western Washington early Tuesday morning, despite not much solar activity.
Video from SkunkBayWeather.com’s nighttime time-lapse camera caught the surprising show from Hansville, Washington, starting about 3 a.m. local time, brightening into curtains of purple dancing above a layer of green along the horizon.
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Usually, you need a rather strong geomagnetic storm to see an aurora as far south as Western Washington, but solar activity was not significant.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center did issue a low-level geomagnetic storm warning Tuesday morning, but conditions even fell just short of the criteria. Still, there was just enough geomagnetic activity to bring the show to the Northwest.
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Geomagnetic activity is forecast to remain low through Wednesday night but may briefly perk up again Thursday morning.