GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — There are those amazing moments when ingredients come together just right and something amazing happens.
Think the best dinner you ever whipped up... or a team you played on that defied odds and won a championship.
Well, that was the scenario last night in the skies over Minnesota, when conditions aligned to create the most spectacular display of the Northern Lights in recent memory.
KARE 11's John Zeigler said a geomagnetic storm ramped up that was strong enough to see from the far north to as far south as the Twin Cities. He explained that geomagnetic storm are assigned a KP index from 0 to 9. Whenever a storm's KP value gets over 5, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said "aurora will move even further from the poles and will become quite bright and active. At this geomagnetic activity level, it might be possible to see the aurora from the northern edge of the United States."
Zeigler said the value of last night's storm reached around 6, which made for some spectacular sights - some of which our viewers captured with their cameras.
Wowza! Northern Lights put on spectacular display across Minnesota
Skies were also completely clear, with a moon of only 39 percent - darker skies make for better viewing, especially in the city where light pollution can dull the effects of the Northern Lights.
Making things even more spectacular was a Perseid meteor shower streaking across the lights. Zeigler said it was an active situation, with up to 100 meteor sightings per hour. Sky & Telescope described it as a Perseid meteor shower dipped in Aurora sauce.
Simply delectable.