KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Northern Lights chasers in some areas of Missouri didn’t have to leave home to see the spectacular sight early Friday morning.
The severe solar storm is the strongest in the world since 2017, and allowed people as far south as Texas and Arizona to catch a glimpse of the lights.
A storm of this magnitude only happens once or twice each decade, according to experts.
The Northern Lights were not spotted over Kansas City because of the cloud cover. But, people north of the metro were treated to an amazing sight.
Pictures taken by MissouriSkies.org and tweeted by FOX4 Meteorologist Jacob Lanier show the Northern Lights over Albany, Missouri.
MissouriSkies.org also shared a quick video on YouTube showing the Northern Lights dancing over the community.
The National Weather Service in Topeka also tweeted a picture of the lights there.
The Northern Lights are notoriously difficult to predict. While meteorologists expected the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights, you can see even the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, didn’t expect the aurora borealis would be spotted as far south as they were.
Unfortunately, if you missed the Northern Lights last night you missed your chance. The solar storm is not expected to produce the strength that is needed for the lights to show over Kansas City in the near future.
NOAA has an Aurora Forecast available. Keep in mind the Northern Lights are so hard to predict, the forecast is in 30-minute increments.