Boston’s Northern Lights Departed Just as Quick as Their Arrival

I've witnessed a lot of things, events, and occasions in my life, but the aurora borealis has not yet made that list.

For years I resided in the northern tip of Vermont, about 40 minutes south of the Canadian border, with an elevation of 722 feet above sea level.

Not once have I witnessed the Northern Lights.

Recently, though, my luck appeared to be changing as the night sky was prepping for a light show that's literally "out of this world" (pun intended).

On Wednesday night, Auroral activity skyrocketed up towards Massachusett's North Shore due to a minor geomagnetic storm. According to the NOAA/NWS Space Weather Prediction Center, a powerful explosion of solar energy had slammed into Earth. This explosion did not cause any major issues besides affecting the strength of power grids. Another side effect is more on the fun side.

The explosion allowed many places from Seattle to Boston to view the aurora borealis on the low horizon line. The peak time for viewing the Northern Lights was between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.

Admittedly, despite the hopeful check off the ol' bucket list to see the Northern Lights sometime in my lifetime, I was out of luck. The three-hour window that departed as quickly as it arrived was too short of notice to travel up north to witness one of nature's most beautiful phenomenons.

Perhaps next time, I'll be prepared enough to ship up north, with camera in hand, to finally capture the greatness of the Northern Lights.