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Terry Eliasen
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Weekend Forecast and another Aurora Viewing

The amazing fall weather continues!

THURSDAY: Sunny and coolish, highs around 60

FRIDAY: Sunny and milder, 65-70

SATURDAY: Another beauty, mainly sunny, low 70s

SUNDAY: Increasing clouds, chance of rain showers late in the day, cooler, highs near 60

MONDAY: Cloudy start with a chance of showers in the AM…some PM sun possible, near 60

ANOTHER AURORA CHANCE…

Here we go again…

Space weather forecasters have issued a “Severe G4 Geomagnetic Storm Watch” for Tonight through Friday.

This has the potential to be another major Northern Lights event, perhaps even approaching the stunning event back on May 10th.

Space weather models are in agreement that this fast moving, coronal mass ejection will strike Earth’s atmosphere tonight and last as long as 12 hours.

While Aurora’s are never guaranteed, our odds Tonight are about as high as they get as far as Aurora predictions go.

This started on Tuesday when a giant explosion of solar material ejected from sunspot (AR3848) that was facing directly at Earth.

(images courtesy of SpaceWeather.com)

Check out this amazing image from a SOHO spacecraft currently orbiting around the Sun.

Remarkably, it caught the massive CME AND Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS!

Scientists think it is possible that the massive blast from the Sun might have ripped off part of the tail of the Comet!  Time will tell as the Comet comes back into view this Weekend in the western horizon.

(images courtesy of SpaceWeather.com)

That mass of solar particles has been speeding towards Earth in the last 36 hours and is forecast to slam into Earth’s magnetic field Tonight.

The level of storm activity is measured using something called a “K index”.  Typically, in order for us in New England to have a shot at seeing Aurora’s we need a K index of 7 or higher.

The current forecast for tonight is as high as 8-9, near the top of the chart!

If the geomagnetic storm arrives as advertised, Aurora’s may be seen as far south as Texas!  Certainly, anyone living in the northern tier of the United States would have a decent shot Tonight.

The weather forecast couldn’t be better!  Any clouds that form today are forecast to melt away after sunset and we expect mainly clear skies all night long across all of New England.

A reminder…if possible, find a location with as little artificial light as possible and with an unobstructed view of the night sky.  

And, as always, if you snap any pics we would love to see and share them!  Send them to weather@wbztv.com



Click here for Westford snow storm data and past totals or select “Winter Snowfall“ under “Pages” on the left hand side.

For more up to date forecast information follow me on Twitter (@terrywbz) or follow the WBZ weather team on Facebook, search WBZWeather

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