COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — For thousands of years, the aurora borealis has fascinated sky-gazers. This week, North Idahoans have had a rare chance to see it.
The aurora is the Earth’s atmospheric response to solar radiation spikes ejected from the sun. The northern lights are most often visible closer to the North Pole, in places like Alaska and Scandinavia, due to the sun’s activity.
Space weather experts monitor sun activity and solar flares in order to predict when the aurora will appear. A solar storm this week heralded auroral activity in Idaho and other states where the lights are not usually visible.
“You have to be fortunate enough for it to be nighttime and you have to have mainly clear skies to be able to see it,” said Greg Koch, weather forecaster with National Weather Service Spokane.
Most often seen in a striking green color, the aurora sometimes shows off other hues, ranging from red and pink to purple and blue. Thursday night, near the Idaho/Montana state line, Spirit Lake resident Jenay Blackwell photographed a brilliant magenta aurora.
To read the full story, visit our news partner the Coeur d'Alene Press.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.
