Northern Lights Over Vernon
- Nov 12, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: Nov 17, 2025
Vernon, B.C. — November 12, 2025
Once again, the northern lights were visible over the North Okanagan Monday night, painting the sky in red and green hues as a powerful geomagnetic storm swept across much of Canada.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun struck Earth’s magnetic field on November 11–12, triggering a G4-level geomagnetic storm — one of the strongest categories on the official scale.
As a result, the aurora could be seen much farther south than usual — across most of Canada, parts of the northern United States, and even as far south as Mexico.
What did ancients say about Northern Lights
Long before scientists understood the phenomenon, ancient cultures offered their own explanations. Norse legends told of Valkyries’ armor flashing across the sky, while Cree traditions spoke of spirits of ancestors dancing in the night, a sign the living were being watched over.
Scientists today attribute the lights to charged particles from the Sun interacting with Earth’s atmosphere. They say displays like this are more common now as the Sun nears the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, known as Solar Cycle 25, when solar flares and magnetic storms increase dramatically.
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