Colorful northern lights return to SLO County and California. See the photos

The northern lights made another appearance in night skies over San Luis Obispo County on Thursday night — and they could show again Friday evening.

The colorful dancing lights, known as the aurora borealis, made a return visit to SLO County thanks to a “severe” geomagnetic storm, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration.

Residents across SLO County spotted the celestial show, which featured vibrant pinks and purples dancing in the skies.

In San Luis Obispo, Michael Toews captured photos of the northern lights visible behind wispy clouds scattered above the Edna Valley.

In the North County, Trisha Butcher captured the lights shimmering among the stars above Mission San Miguel Arcángel, she shared in a post on X.

Onlookers elsewhere in California also shared images of the lights from dark-sky spots around the state.

The X account Active NorCal shared multiple images, including a time-lapse of the lights and pillars dancing across the skies above Yosemite National Park. The video was originally captured and posted on Instagram by Marc Bouldoukian, a landscape and wildlife photographer.

The lights were also visible above Lassen County, according to another social media post by Active NorCal, with a photo captured by Jacob Sullens.

Onlookers in Nevada County also got a good show as the colorful lights cast a green swath below strokes of pink above Donner Pass, in a photo posted on X by Dakota Snider.

“Magical!” Snider wrote of the lights.

While the conditions were better Thursday night, skywatchers will have another chance on Friday.

NOAA issued a G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm watch for Oct. 11, and a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm watch for Oct. 12 — meaning there’s a chance the lights could make another rare appearance over the Central Coast on Friday night.

Residents interested in seeing the lights should head to dark sky areas, like those near Santa Margarita and Creston, for the best chance to see a show.

SLO County last saw the lights in May, when another intense geomagnetic storm brought the aurora borealis much farther south than usual.

Did you take photos of the northern lights? Send them in

If you captured photos or videos of the northern lights this week, we’d love to share them. You can send them to sdittenber@thetribunenews.com and we’ll post them here.

This story was originally published October 11, 2024 at 11:37 AM.

Sadie Dittenber

The Tribune

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Sadie Dittenber writes about education for The Tribune and is a California Local News Fellow through the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. Dittenber graduated from The College of Idaho with a degree in international political economy.