You might be able to check off a bucket list item with auroras being visible in our area Monday evening!

These arcs or ribbons of light begin to twist and sway, just as if a breeze were blowing on curtains. At some point, the arcs may expand to fill the whole sky, moving rapidly and becoming very bright. These pulses of intensity mean you need to be very patient. We are expecting a G4 storm for northern lights. The best way to see the northern lights will be with a long-exposure camera, but viewing with the naked eye is certainly possible! 

The KP-Index is rising earlier than what a lot of forecasts from the space prediction center expected, (by around 8 hours), so if you're trying to view it, your best chance might be right after sunset. You can see the KP index coming up a lot to over 8 this afternoon, even though this was expected to occur later in the night.

The new KP forecast for this evening has gone down so it may be an "earlier the better" scenario if you're trying to view them. SWPC is now forecasting the Geomagnetic storm to peak in the next 3 hours (until around 7) and dropping below G4 after.

The good thing is that the skies should be mostly clear and clouds won't be too much of a problem for you. However, it will be very cold. A little breeze will keep wind chill values near the single digits after sunset and temperatures that are dropping into the teens. In addition to the mostly clear skies, it's near a new moon right now, so there won't be much pollution from the moon to block your view, if you see them.