There has been a lot of buzz on the internet this week about potential Aurora, or Northern Lights viewing. While there will be some good viewing spots in North America this week, it will greatly depend on where you are located.

Three things needed for good Aurora viewing:

First, you need a good view of the sky. As this week progresses, this will be a challenge in central Ohio, as more clouds are expected at night, and rain showers and possible thunderstorms as well. If you can see clouds above your head, it will be difficult to see the Northern Lights.

Second, and this kind of goes with the first thing you need, but you need mostly clear skies, but mostly clear dark skies. This means that if you are in Columbus for instance, it might be quite challenging, even on the best clear nights to see the light display in the sky. Light pollution makes it difficult. However, get outside of town, and there is a lot of rural areas in Ohio with dark skies at night.

Third, and a very important thing you need, is a good location to view the Northern Lights. Central Ohio typically is NOT a good location, as we are typically too far south to view.

This week there have been forecasts from the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks that shows parts of the northern United States with possible viewing of the Aurora, to low visibility on the horizon. But the line doesn’t get much past Central Michigan, nowhere close to central Ohio.

The forecast from the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center is even less favorable for our area, and much of the northern US.

Overall, the chances we see the Northern Lights this week in central Ohio are pretty poor, but better than winning the Powerball or Mega Millions this week. So if you are north of Columbus, and get some clearing in the skies, it’s always worth a shot to look up in the northern sky between about 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. At a minimum, you will enjoy a pretty sky.