LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Veterans Day ended with a spectacular solar storm that brought the aurora borealis to areas across the United States — including Lake County — that don’t normally get to see the northern lights.

In Lake County, a camera was needed to fully capture the display, with residents posting pictures of the auroras on social media.

The California Aurora Chasers Facebook page features pictures from around the state capturing the phenomenon.

The most common color was red, which is due to oxygen at altitudes above 150 miles, along with green, between 50 and 150 miles high. 

Shawn Dahl of the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, said in a Tuesday night video that a geomagnetic storm had resulted in the auroras.

By that point, Dahl said there already had been two of three anticipated coronal mass ejections, which were stronger than anticipated.

Those two storms, on the geomagnetic storm scale of G1 to G5,  were rated at the G4 level, which is ranked as “severe,” while the watches issued had been between G2, or moderate, and G3, which is strong.

A third and potentially stronger coronal mass is expected to occur beginning around midway on Wednesday. 

The third storm was traveling significantly faster than the previous two, and Dahl said they think it will “pack even a stronger punch than what we’ve already experienced.”

He said there are slight chances of a storm that could be a G5, which on the geomagnetic storm scale is ranked as “severe.”

Dahl said such geomagnetic storms are variable and dynamic. 

On the everyday level, the storm could impact GPS systems. 

As for potentially larger issues the storms could cause, NOAA also is talking to government officials about space launches and possible impacts to the power grid, Dahl said.

Lake County and other parts of the nation that don’t usually get to see the northern lights previously experienced an aurora show in May of 2024.

To get the latest aurora forecasts, visit NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center aurora forecast page.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, and on Bluesky, @erlarson.bsky.social. Find Lake County News on the following platforms: Facebook, @LakeCoNews; X, @LakeCoNews; Threads, @lakeconews, and on Bluesky, @lakeconews.bsky.social.