Spectacular northern lights could be visible from southern Ontario

People in southern Ontario could catch a spectacular northern lights display this week.

Scientists are predicting intense aurora borealis on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday this week.

There is a good chance to see the lights over a wide swath of North America including southern Ontario and into Illinois and Oregon, U.S., according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

These could be the most intense auroras since the severe geomagnetic storm this spring, which produced beautiful lights in Ontario in early May.

Geomagnetic storm watches started on July 29 due to a number of coronal mass ejections or explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona, according to NOAA.

However, the “brunt of the activity” is most likely on July 30 and could continue to Aug. 1, NOAA states.

The solar event is known as a “Cannibal” coronal mass ejection, according to space.com.

Geomagnetic storms are classified using a G-scale — G5 is the most extreme to G1 minor class storms. NOAA currently classifies the July 30 storm as a G3 with G2 periods expected on July 31.

The strongest activity is predicted between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. U.S. Central Time, according to NOAA. But there is some uncertainty about the exact timings.

Tuesday’s weather forecast for rain and thunderstorms in southern Ontario could hamper chances of seeing the lights.

Aurora borealis can only be seen at night with the best chances after midnight and away from city lights.

NOAA’s maps show where northern lights will be visible in North America.

The NOAA report can be found here.

Lead photo: Jaanus Jagomägi