During Halloween weekend, solar flare helps northern lights become visible to US

In what can be called a rare sighting, some parts of northern United States are in for a treat this weekend as solar flare will make the northern lights visible to residents on Saturday night.   

Normally seen in only Alaska, the lights will be visible as far south as Pennsylvania, Iowa and Oregon in the US this time. Scientists also expect the lights to become visible in the New England region, Montana and Washington. These lights could be seen on both Saturday and Sunday.   

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A solar flare, which erupted on Thursday, is expected to reach the Earth on Saturday. It has caused a large group of solar-charged particles to come towards the Earth, which makes the lights more visible in the US, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.   

For the solar flare, the NOAA has issued a G3 geomagnetic storm watch this weekend.    

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The storm doesn’t seem to be harmful to humans, but the NOAA has listed possible interference with electronics, such as false alarms on protection devices, voltage irregularities and interruptions to navigation and radio signals as possible side-effects.    

However, the NOAA said in its storm watch that "impacts to our technology from G3 storms are usually nominal."   

(With inputs from agencies)