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It’s been an unusually active year for auroras above Minnesota. Just last Monday we saw a 

. And it was the fourth time this year we’ve seen an active northern lights show pulsate above Minnesota.

Now, the sun is blasting yet another burst of energy toward Earth.

If the burst tickles our atmosphere just right, we could see another northern lights show on Thursday night. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s

 has issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Thursday night: 

So why is this year so special for northern lights? One reason is we’re in the midst of 

It turns out this solar cycle has been very good at producing auroras visible over Minnesota. And our dry weather pattern has produced many clear sky nights so we can see the shows.

My colleague Minnesota Now host Cathy Wurzer 

, a professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota. 

So we’re living in rare times for seeing northern lights this year in Minnesota. And another possible opportunity to see them arrives Thursday night.

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Paul Huttner

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It’s not your imagination. Northern lights are unusually frequent above Minnesota this year. This solar cycle has been very good at producing auroras visible over Minnesota, and our dry weather pattern has produced many clear sky nights so we can see the shows.

Northern lights above the Huttner Weather Lab on October 8 2024

Why are we seeing so many northern lights this year? Another show possible Thursday night

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