Northern lights visible from southern Ontario Thursday night

If you were up late and looked up on Thursday night, you may have seen a spectacular view. 

The northern lights were visible from many places in southern Ontario. 

Photos of the phenomenon were posted by locals, including from a staff member with the Region of Waterloo International Airport. 

But why were we able to see the aurora borealis so clearly? Bill Archer is a Program Scientist with the Canadian Space Agency. 

“Ultimately, the generic answer is that it was a more exciting display last night than it typically is,” explained Archer. “The larger the event, the more south it goes.”

Archer said they can verify that through the KP Index, which is essentially a global 'aurora' activity indicator. 

“I believe it almost reached eight [last night] and this is a scale that only goes to nine. It's measured throughout the world with a bunch of magnetometers to see just how severe space weather is.”

Archer described Thursday night's event as 'particularly strong' which made the lights brighter and more southwards than usual. 

“So last night was a very large event and that means sometimes, probably semi-regularly, there probably is aurora all the way down to the US-Canada border… but if it's not particularly bright, and you live near the city — then you won't see it.”

If you missed the light show, Archer has bad news. He said the conditions are no longer very active and he doesn't expect they'll be making a return Friday night.