Waves of colorful northern lights are expected to light up Colorado skies once again Wednesday night as severe geomagnetic storms continue, according to space weather forecasts.
Another burst of energy from the sun, known as a coronal mass ejection, is expected to reach Earth midday and remain active throughout the night, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, based in Boulder.
Solar activity, and the associated light show on the horizon, is forecast to peak between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to space weather forecasters.
How to use your smartphone to photograph the Northern Lights
Two of those energy bursts arrived Tuesday on Earth, painting the skies of Denver and beyond with red, pink, purple and green. Coloradans across the state reported being able to see the colors with their naked eye, and the effect was boosted by phone cameras.
The magnetic field of Tuesday night’s storm was eight times stronger than normal and favorable to “continued activity,” NOAA space forecasters said in a video update.
Views of tonight’s northern lights display from Douglas County! The reds were visible to the naked eye early on, and the greens showed up too after our eyes adjusted to the dark #cowx #Auroraborealis pic.twitter.com/PNLjSkfQVj
— Lauren Penington (@laurenpenington) November 12, 2025
The energy burst expected to arrive Wednesday will likely hit the “severe” G4 category, but could reach “extreme” G5 levels, forecasters said in the video.
The five-step geomagnetic storm ranking scale predicts how the storm will impact Earth — not just in the vibrancy of the aurora borealis, but in the potential disruption or damage to power grids and communications systems.
An extreme storm, G5, can collapse power grids, cause blackouts and disrupt satellite navigation and radio frequencies, according to the NOAA.
How bright the auroras are and how far south they are visible will depend on when the solar bursts get here and how they interact with Earth’s atmosphere. If the Wednesday night storm is as strong as Tuesday’s, as forecasted, Coloradans should once again be able to see it on the horizon.
The best chance to see the aurora borealis is by getting far away from city lights and checking a light pollution map for clear spots. Then turn all gazes and cameras, with long exposure activated, north.
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