TULSA, Okla. — A solar flare from the sun that erupted last Thursday has given Oklahomans a chance to see the "Northern Lights."
The solar flare interacts with the upper layers of Earth to create the Aurora Borealis, which is usually only seen in the northern-most latitudes of the globe. However, the Northern Lights have been possibly visible just above the horizon as far south as Oklahoma as of late thanks to Thursday's solar flare.
That flare is the second-strongest of the year and classified as a G3 — the third level of the NOAA or "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration" five-tier geomagnetic storm scale.
Originally, our 2 News meteorologists said to have a chance to see the display, Oklahomans needed to get completely away from city light pollution and have a great view of the horizon. Turns out the lights made an appearance on Wednesday night of this week.
Photographer Paul Smith caught the display from Grainola, Oklahoma last night. They could have been seen last weekend, but they were just delayed a few days. They could not be seen with the naked eye. Only in photos.
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