Northern Lights Visible in Parts of Washington Starting Tonight

People in Washington State may be able to see the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) on the horizon starting Wednesday night and ending Saturday morning.

Sue Mitchell, PIO for the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, said the best time to view the aurora is between midnight and 3:00 am.

"You would want to find a dark place where there is not a lot of light from nearby cities." explained Mitchell, "A place that has a good view of the norther horizon so it's not obscured by mountains or trees, because you're going to be looking low on the northern horizon unless you're way up north in Canada or Alaska."

Auroras are caused by charged particles ejected from the sun hitting the earth's magnetic field.

"Those particles from the sun hit our magnetic field and they come down at the poles." Mitchell added, "So those two auroras are pretty much identical. People who would be near the South Pole would be seeing the same thing, except that it's probably 24-hour daylight right now at the South Pole."

Thursday night into Friday morning is expected to be the peak of the show.