Show's over for northern lights in Western Pennsylvania

The northern lights put on a show over the weekend in Western Pennsylvania — but that could be the end of it.

Shannon Hefferan, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon, said as of now, there’s nothing projected around here in the future.

Late Friday and early Saturday, residents around Western Pennsylvania — as well as others around the United States — were able to view the colorful celestial display.

The reason? Hefferan said the Space Weather Prediction Center issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch on Thursday because of sunspots flaring up — as far south as Alabama and California.

Lee Hendricks, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon, attributed the light show to peak solar cycle.

A peak solar cycle occurs when there’s more solar activity on the surface of the sun itself, which can interfere with communications and transmissions, as well as produce the ability to see the lights farther south than normal,.

“These periods can last up to several years,” Hendricks said. “They don’t really have any expectation of how long the cycle will be — this is still very much a developing science.”

It’s called Solar Cycle 25, and it will include more sunspots, which can produce solar flares and CMEs, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Hefferan said the solar cycle began in December 2019.

The most recent solar flare was labeled as a G4, which allowed the northern lights to be viewed in the area, according to Hefferan.

“It was kind of monumental,” she said. “The last time there was a G4 was March this year, but we couldn’t see (the lights) because of clouds.”

WTAE meteorologist Jill Szwed said this has been the strongest geomagnetic storm since Halloween 2003.

The forecast for the aurora borealis can be found on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center website.