Aurora Sights This A.M. in Seattle, Portland: Decent Chance for Washington, Oregon, Coast This Weekend

Published 9/13/24 at 8:05 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Portland, Oregon) – The headline from one regional astronomer was “CME Impact Sparks Widespread Red Auroras,” and that said a lot. (Photo from Sueberry Sueberry of Seattle: Discovery Park early Thursday morn).

A space weather surprise showed up on a night when you'd least expect it, what with all those cloudy conditions and such. Yet there it was in Portland just before 3 a.m., looming large behind a truly sizable break in the clouds: a faint pink glow. The telltale sign of the aurora borealis was indeed there. (Seattle's Sueberry Sueberry sent this sensational shot of Discovery Park and the Seattle area's northern lights from this a.m. to Oregon Coast Beach Connection.)

Oregon Coast Beach Connection featured a story on this possibility just the other day. A large solar flare on September 8 brought the possibility of northern lights for September 10 - 12, and it did exactly that - even for the Pacific Northwest. Reports came into Oregon Coast Beach Connection from the Bellingham, Seattle and Port Angeles areas as well.

Now, tonight (Thursday night) and for the next two nights, there's more northern lights possible for areas like Seattle, Portland, Ashland, Salem, Yakima and areas on the Oregon coast or Washington coast such as Ocean Shores, Seaside, Port Orford and Pacific City. There's another solar winds storm watch throughout the upper U.S. and Canada for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The gist of it: if you've got clear skies where you are, go out and take a look. If you get some periodic cloud breaks in the north, it's a good idea to take a peek as well. You could be surprised. See the 30-minute forecast before you head out.

Thursday morning's gush of pink colors was a rather strong storm, coming from that coronal mass ejection (CME) a few days ago. And there's more on the way.

In Port Orford in August - courtesy Discover Port Orford

Jim Todd, astronomy expert with Portland's OMSI confirmed what Oregon Coast Beach Connection saw in Portland at 2:45 a.m. He confirmed what we saw: it was primarily red light.

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“A CME hit Earth's magnetic field today, sparking a strong geomagnetic storm with red auroras in the United States as far south as California,” Todd said. “Two more CMEs are coming, which means a repeat display is possible this weekend.”

Last night's activity ended up rather strong at a G3 category storm.

The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Colorado has two northern lights watches up.

Photo from Yachats on the central Oregon coast in August - .Jacklyn Larsen Photography

“G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels are likely on 13 Sep (UTC day) due to CME influences from an eruption that occurred early on 10 Sep,” the SWPC said. “Stay in the loop with https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/forecast-discussion for evolving forecasts and analysis of this event.”

UTC time is 8 hours ahead of Oregon and Washington, so you can read that timing as the middle of the night along the coastlines and inland parts of both states.

There will likely be more of these in the coming months as the sun is going through a considerably large period of CME activity, part of its normal cycle.

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Bandon in May, courtesy Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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