Photo taken September 2022 in Ralston, AB / Photo Courtesy: Lukas Gornisiewicz

By Lisa Parent

Ideal conditions create intense Northern Lights display over Medicine Hat

Nov 6, 2023 | 5:12 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Typically, to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis, you have to escape the clutches of city lights. However, last night’s showing was so bright you could see it from anywhere in Medicine Hat.

“I saw a lot of photos last night of people just watching from their backyard, from their hot tubs, like in Crescent Heights, and they were just as bright as you would see out of town, too,” says Lukas Gornisiewicz, an astronomy photographer.

Kimberley Whittle shared this photo of the Northern Lights on November 5, 2023 in Crescent Heights, Medicine Hat.

Yesterday, the Northern Lights peaked in Europe, with some sightings in parts of North America. In Medicine Hat, we observed the lights’ peak around 9 p.m.

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Most forecasts anticipated a G2 solar storm, the astronomical occurrence responsible for the Northern Lights. However, as events unfolded, the Northern Lights reached a G3 status on a scale where five represents the highest level of intensity.

According to Gornisiewicz, numerous variables influence the ideal conditions for observing the dancing lights.

“When the (solar) storm’s peaking, you wanna be on the night side of the earth. Hopefully there’s no moon, like right now there’s no moon or there’s three quarters of a moon in the sky and it doesn’t really disrupt the sky at all,” explains Gornisiewicz. “And then you wanna clear sky, right? So you need all these variables and last night that all happened.”

Northern Light forecasts can be monitored on spaceweather.com