Most of Alberta has high chance of seeing northern lights this weekend
Most of Alberta could be in for a spectacular showing of the northern lights this weekend as a solar storm makes its way towards Earth.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a geomagnetic storm watch for Saturday evening to early Sunday morning.
Andy Kale, a research associate in the department of physics at the University of Alberta, told CTV News Edmonton the storm is the result of a large coronal mass ejection and solar flare that occurred Thursday.
"That travels a little bit slower," Kale said. "That flare should reach us Saturday."
Kale described the solar flare emission as the sun burping, spewing charged particles that fall to the Earth's atmosphere causing what we see as the northern lights.
According to the NOAA forecast, the peak of the storm is expected Saturday night and early Sunday morning, with conditions ranging from minor to strong.
Solar activity is expected to last all weekend, giving opportunities for the aurora to appear Saturday, Sunday, and even Monday night, should conditions align.
"The sun has decided to come trick-or-treating with us," Kale said, as he laughed.
According to Kale, anyone north of the 50-degree line of latitude — so north of about Medicine Hat, Alta. — has a good chance of seeing the aurora borealis this weekend.
Just two weeks ago Edmontonians were enraptured by the aurora borealis. Kale said that storm was only a G2, with solar storms classified from G1 to G5 — with G5 being the highest.
This weekend could peak as a G3, meaning it could be even more spectacular.
"We're starting to see solar activity ramping up again," Kale said. "We're exiting what we call a solar minimum, a period where solar activity is quiet.
"We're ramping up now where solar activity should increase and increase."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Ryan Harding
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
Trump chooses Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdraws
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
A one-of-a-kind Royal Canadian Mint coin sells for more than $1.5M
A rare one-of-a-kind pure gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint has sold for more than $1.5 million. The 99.99 per cent pure gold coin, named 'The Dance Screen (The Scream Too),' weighs a whopping 10 kilograms and surpassed the previous record for a coin offered at an auction in Canada.
Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow has tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine, and he warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays
Canadians won't have to pay GST on a selection of items this holiday season, the prime minister vowed on Thursday.
Video shows octopus 'hanging on for dear life' during bomb cyclone off B.C. coast
Humans weren’t the only ones who struggled through the bomb cyclone that formed off the B.C. coast this week, bringing intense winds and choppy seas.
Taylor Swift's motorcade spotted along Toronto's Gardiner Expressway
Taylor Swift is officially back in Toronto for round two. The popstar princess's motorcade was seen driving along the Gardiner Expressway on Thursday afternoon, making its way to the downtown core ahead of night four of ‘The Eras Tour’ at the Rogers Centre.
Service Canada holding back 85K passports amid Canada Post mail strike
Approximately 85,000 new passports are being held back by Service Canada, which stopped mailing them out a week before the nationwide Canada Post strike.