A strong solar storm could bring northern lights to western Washington this weekend

STATE OF WASHINGTON – NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a G3 geomagnetic storm warning through Sunday.

The designation G3 means that a strong storm is to be expected. This is because two coronal mass ejections will hit Earth's upper atmosphere on Saturday and Sunday.

While you can see some Northern Lights on both Saturday and Sunday evenings, the level of Northern Lights activity we saw earlier in the year is not predicted.

VIEWER PHOTOS | Northern lights dance over western Washington

However, according to government forecasts, this space storm is strong enough to make the Aurora Borealis visible as far south as Oregon. With clear skies forecast at times, you should keep an eye to the north during the night hours.

According to NOAA, the best viewing of the Northern Lights is typically between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. The hours of active auroras extend into the evening and morning as geomagnetic activity increases, according to space researchers.

According to NOAA, the best times of year to view the Northern Lights are around the spring and fall equinoxes. This is good and new as we are just past the Autumnal Equinox. According to NOAA's space weather website, this is due to the way the solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetosphere.