Late Week Northern Lights Chances Across Minnesota, Wisconsin

With warmer weather returning to the region as the week wraps up, another reason to get outside is popping up for this week.

If cloud cover isn't too thick, Minnesota and Wisconsin are in line to see a few chances at a good Northern Lights show as we head into the weekend.

Here's when the best chances are expected, and a look at how cooperative the weather will be across the region.

When are this week's best Northern Lights chances across Minnesota & Wisconsin?

The National Weather Service's sister agency, the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), put out a geomagnetic storm watch for this week. This is a good indicator of increased chances of seeing the Northern Lights at latitudes in geographic areas like all of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

READ MORE: These are the scientifically-proven best Northern Lights viewing locations in Minnesota

The G2 geomagnetic storm watch is for what the SWPC calls a "moderate" geomagnetic storm, which is due to the arrival of a "coronal mass ejection" from the sun, which happened on March 16.

This burst of solar energy is bringing with it increased aurora activity chances for Thursday, March 19, with the chances of some residual shows for the following couple of days.

When will the best Northern Lights viewing be during this event?

Thursday evening is predicted to be the best viewing time, with activity ramping up before sunset and staying active until just after midnight early Friday morning.

Friday night is also looking promising, and Saturday & Sunday evening, there are slightly lesser but still notable chance of seeing the Northern Lights. The weekend chances are more so in Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin and possibly not quite as far south in both states over the weekend.

Will cloud cover cooperate with Northern Lights viewing?

It, unfortunately, won't be perfectly clear for the next few days. That said, it won't be completely overcast, either.

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While it varies somewhat from place to place around Minnesota and Wisconsin, there is expected to be broken cloud cover Thursday and Friday night. While it won't be perfectly clear viewing, you could still be able to catch the show over the next few nights. Again, it depends a lot on where you are and what time of night you plan to head out.

In the meantime, here are some listener-submitted photos from a great Northern Lights show from a year ago.