Will Tennessee see the northern lights? Solar maximus peak could mean more chances

Forecasts for which states could see the northern lights on Wednesday, June 25, are similar to Tuesday's forecast.

The northern lights are expected to make their way further south into the United States on June 25, but only a small number of states will be able to catch a glimpse of this celestial light show.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center's latest forecast for the aurora borealis has it showing up in 15 states on the night of June 25. While it won't be making its way to Tennessee, astronomers predict people in the South may have a chance to see it again in 2025.

The sun is expected to hit its solar maximum in 2025 and it's expected to continue to produce coronal mass ejections (CME) — vast plumes of solar material — throughout the year, according to scientists. The CME is a geomagnetic storm that comes in Earth's direction and has the ability to hinder communications but also gives us the brilliance of the northern lights.

map visualization

Will we see the northern lights tonight in Tennessee?

No, only a handful of northern states will be able to see the rare dancing lights.

The dancing red and green lights of the aurora borealis aren't an unusual sight for people in the northern part of the United States and in Canada, but in the South it is a rare treat.

In May 2024, much of the country got to see them. In 2025, though, June 1 was the first time there was a chance that the aurora borealis could be seen further south. Recent predictions from NOAA have the northern lights dancing their way down to the northern states once again on June 25, but the chance Tennesseans would be able to see them is slim to none.

What is a geomagnetic storm?

The geomagnetic storm is a coronal mass ejection (CME), which are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's atmosphere known as the corona, according to Space.com. This is one of several coronal mass ejections and storms that Earth has experienced over the last several years.

While these geomagnetic storms from coronal mass ejections can affect satellites and our power grids, they also create the aurora borealis effect. And when they are strong enough, they allow for the northern lights to be seen as far south as Alabama.

Which states have the best chance of seeing the northern lights tonight?

Our friends further north have the best seats in the country for June 25's light show. Here's states best positioned within the aurora viewing line.

When could Tennessee see the aurora borealis again?

In 2024, NASA scientists predicted that the solar maximum, or the next peak in solar activity, would occur in July 2025. This means the northern lights will start to get stronger and more frequent as the solar maximum approaches, reported USA TODAY.

Solar maximum is expected in July 2025, with a peak of 115 sunspots, according to NOAA.

“How quickly solar activity rises is an indicator on how strong the solar cycle will be,” said Doug Biesecker, Ph.D., panel co-chair and a solar physicist at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “Although we’ve seen a steady increase in sunspot activity this year, it is slow.”

Even with slow activity, the peak in July could mean even more solar activity, including the geomagnetic storms that cause the Northern Lights.

Meaning, seeing the aurora borealis in Tennessee again in 2025 is possible, but there are no guarantees.

What is a coronal mass ejection?

These slow moving expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields can cause issues on Earth, but are often heralded as a good thing for the light show they also provide.

CMEs have been known to affect power grids, telecommunication networks and orbiting satellites and expose astronauts to dangerous doses of radiation, according to Space.com. The expulsions are also the reason we get to see the aurora borealis in the United States without having to make a very long trek north.

Do solar storms cause the aurora borealis? What exactly does?

In short, the northern lights can be seen thanks to particles being released by solar flares from the sun and hitting the Earth's magnetic field. That colored glow from the aurora that we end up seeing is the particles interacting with atmospheric gas molecules.

In this case, green and red light are emitted by oxygen. Blue and purple come from nitrogen, according to NASA.

Has the aurora borealis been visible in Tennessee before?

Tennessee may not be the typical place to see the northern lights, but it has been known to happen, according to The Tennessee Conservationist.

When the sun goes through a solar discharge cycle, which is when the sun releases a large number of charged particles into space, the northern lights reach further south. Before May 10, the last time Tennesseans could see the northern lights were in 2023. There have been reports of the aurora borealis being spotted in the early 2000s as well.

But since the sun is nearing a peak of a solar discharge cycle there is a chance for more light shows in the future.

USA TODAY contributed to this story.