By Mike Shriver
This article originally appeared on buffalophotoblog.com. Reprinted with permission from the author, Mike Shriver.
Last night was freakin awesome! I knew the lights were coming, I follow quite a few sites and the news of a massive solar flare heading our way headlined each of them. Originally, the lights were “scheduled” for Wednesday night, however the storm was much larger than anticipated and Thursday night reached epic levels! I’ve been fortunate to see the lights five times in the past two years, four of those times in within a short drive of Buffalo. Last night’s show hit KP 8.7 at times, offering naked eye views right from my backyard in Cheektowaga, NY. Lasting only a few minutes at that level of intensity, we headed north towards Lake Ontario to catch a better glimpse before it died down (pictures below).
Experts say that the storm is still raging around our planet today and could continue or even intensify into this Friday evening. This makes it possible – though not guaranteed – that another spectacular display of aurora could be seen tonight. To see the aurora requires clear, dark skies, usually well away from street lamps and other light pollution. Look north, because the phenomenon creeps down from the polar regions. Good luck with your hunt!
Photo Gallery:
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Mike Shriver is a WNY native who works in finance for Ingram Micro. In his spare time, he mixes his passions of photography and the city of Buffalo through his website buffalophotoblog.com. When he’s not walking aimlessly around Buffalo with his camera, he’s likely singing the Paw Patrol theme song to his 10 month old son. Married to his beautiful wife Jennifer.