The Northern Lights may shine across parts of Canada Tuesday night
Eyes to the northern skies for a chance to spot the Aurora Borealis.
Check your forecast for clear skies, because the Northern Lights may be shining over parts of Canada tonight.
Early on Sunday, two immense clouds of charged particles erupted from the surface of the Sun. These coronal mass ejections (CMEs) have merged while slowly travelling through interplanetary space. The combined solar storm is expected to pass Earth's orbit later on Tuesday, with one edge of the cloud likely to sweep past Earth itself.
This computer model run shows the moment that the solar storm is expected to sweep past Earth, scoring a glancing blow on the planet's magnetic field, at around 5 pm EDT on October 7, 2025. Earth and the CME have been labelled for convenience. (NOAA SWPC/Scott Sutherland)
READ MORE: What is space weather, what are geomagnetic storms, and why are the auroras so active lately?
As the solar storm glances off of the Earth's magnetic field, it will likely set off a disturbance, causing the field to deform and shift, sparking a geomagnetic storm.
Forecasters with NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center are predicting G1 (minor) geomagnetic storms for Tuesday, from late in the day through the evening hours.
RELATED: Geomagnetic storms - When should we look up and when should we worry?
Since this is only predicted to be a 'glancing blow' by this CME, it is not expected to have a strong impact.
However, as we saw just last week and throughout September, Earth's geomagnetic field has been primed lately to react quite strongly to any kind of space weather effects.
This display of the Aurora Borealis shone over Leamington, ON, on September 14, 2025. (Michael Vincent Ledesma/UGC)
This could be due to our proximity to the September Equinox, when so-called 'equinox cracks' can open up holes in the geomagnetic field. That often results in Northern Lights displays that are much brighter and that extend much farther to the south than they would due to similar space weather impacts at other times of the year.
NOAA SWPC mentions that brief periods of G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm strength could be seen as well.
With the timing of the forecast, as these storms are predicted to occur between 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. EDT, that would favour the eastern half of Canada for any aurora displays. At G1 or G2 geomagnetic storm strength, the Northern Lights tend to remain over northern or central regions of Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and Ontario.
CAPTURE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS: Taking pictures of the Aurora Borealis is much simpler than you think
However, given that the auroras typically appear between 100 and 300 kilometres above the ground, it is possible to spot them from quite a distance away. Observers watching from under clear, dark skies, far from urban light pollution may still catch them along the northern horizon. Plus, brief pulses of activity could push the displays farther south, making them easier to see.
(Thumbnail image shows the Northern Lights, as captured by Matt Melnyk, north of Calgary on October 6, 2024)