Mother’s Day Miracle? Illinois May See Northern Lights Sunday

Both Missouri and Illinois have been treated to back-to-back days of Northern Lights visible over both states and there's a chance that could happen again Sunday night based on the current aurora forecast.

In case you somehow missed it, the Northern Lights were brilliantly visible over Missouri and Illinois overhead Friday night and then on the horizon Saturday night. The new updated forecast from NOAA's Experimental Aurora Dashboard says Sunday night, it could happen again. The red line defines where they currently believe the Aurora Borealis could be visible to the naked eye if skies are clear.

As of this writing (Sunday morning at 9:49am), northern Illinois is within the red line area. Note this line could be moved further south later in the day which is exactly what happened Saturday when Missouri once again had Northern Lights visible.

I have an app called My Aurora Forecast & Alerts and this is what it shows for northeast Missouri for Sunday night. The peak KP index is expected to be around 10pm. 

It is currently predicting that even northeast Missouri has a chance at seeing the Northern Lights again. I would recommend grabbing this free app (available for Android & Apple phones) as it will tell you in real time what the KP index is (disturbances in the upper atmosphere) and will even alert you if there's a good probability that the Northern Lights are visible from where you are.

To emphasize, the Northern Lights being visible over Missouri and Illinois yet again is NOT a certainty. The timing of the incoming CME's and atmospheric conditions have to be right and the skies need to be clear.

Clinton Wallace, Director of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, said "This is an unusual and potentially historic event. " and he's not wrong. If it happens for the 3rd night in a row, it will truly be an even more historic event for Illinois and maybe Missouri, too.