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Northern Lights fill the sky above eastern Washington, north Idaho

People living in the Inland Northwest got quite the show Sunday night with the northern lights visible across most of the region.

SPOKANE, Wash. — A spectacular sight in Spokane and the rest of eastern Washington and north Idaho on Sunday night.

The Northern Lights painted the sky in dazzling shades of green and even some red.

The National Weather Service in Spokane first reported seeing the aurora borealis around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26.

"Aurora alert!  We have seen on [T]witter and gone outside to see for ourselves...the northern lights are visible tonight!," the NWS Tweeted.

The northern lights were visible for several hours, with the NWS reporting they were still visible at 11:15 p.m.

Text your photos and videos to (509) 448-2000.

The northern lights are still putting on a show at NWS Spokane at 11:15pm! Take a look to the north and see if you can spot them!

Posted by US National Weather Service Spokane Washington on Sunday, February 26, 2023

KREM 2 viewer Brian shared a timelapse video from Hauser Lake, ID that showed not just green but also dazzling red lights.

Schweitzer Mountain Resort shared a video with KREM 2 of the northern lights over Schweitzer Mountain. 

KREM 2 viewer Rasa Tautvydas captured these photos of the northern lights over Winthrop, Washington. 


What are the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)?

NASA explains what causes the Northern Lights:

The Sun sends us more than heat and light; it sends lots of other energy and small particles our way. The protective magnetic field around Earth shields us from most of the energy and particles, and we don't even notice them.

But the Sun doesn't send the same amount of energy all the time. There is a constant streaming solar wind and there are also solar storms. During one kind of solar storm called a coronal mass ejection, the Sun burps out a huge bubble of electrified gas that can travel through space at high speeds.

When a solar storm comes toward us, some of the energy and small particles can travel down the magnetic field lines at the north and south poles into Earth's atmosphere. 

There, the particles interact with gases in our atmosphere resulting in beautiful displays of light in the sky. Oxygen gives off green and red light. Nitrogen glows blue and purple.

Unfortunately, the solar energy that made the Northern Lights visible last night is not expected to be as strong Monday night. Click here for the Aurora Forecast.

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