Northern lights illuminate sky near Denali National Park

Northern Lights Dazzle Near Denali National Park

Residents of Alaska’s Denali Borough were treated to a dazzling nighttime light show on November 3 as the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, became more visible at northern latitudes. (Credit: @whatsmyname515 via Storyful)

DENALI, Alaska - Residents of Alaska’s Denali Borough got a front-row seat to a nighttime light show on Nov. 3 after the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, became more visible at northern latitudes.

Video was posted that showed the pink and green waves dazzling the night sky over Healy, a city southwest of Fairbanks and northwest of Denali National Park and Preserve, according to the source.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had issued a geomagnetic storm watch for Wednesday and Thursday, following coronal mass ejections recorded on Nov. 1 and 2.

The northern lights are created from a collision between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the atmosphere of the earth and show up at night when the sky is dark. They are typically observed across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Canada, according to The Aurora Zone, a northern lights travel company.

A huge solar flare from the sun sparked a beautiful, eerie glow over parts of the world on Halloween.

The Halloween phenomenon came after the sun in late October launched what is called an "X-class solar flare" that was strong enough to spark a high-frequency radio blackout across parts of South America. The energy from that powerful flare is trailed by a cluster of solar plasma and other material called a coronal mass ejection, or CME for short.

The CME then headed toward Earth, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue a warning about a potentially strong geomagnetic storm on Oct. 30 and Oct. 31.

"Impacts to our technology from a G3 storm are generally nominal," the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center wrote in a statement on Oct. 29. "However, a G3 storm has the potential to drive the aurora further away from its normal polar residence and if other factors come together, the aurora might be seen over the far Northeast, to the upper Midwest, and over the state of Washington."

Solar flare prompts Geomagnetic Storm Watch

A "significant" solar flare, or Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) exploded from the sun on Oct. 28, NASA reported, prompting the agency to issue a "strong geomagnetic storm watch" for Oct. 30. (Credit: NASA SDO via Storyful)

And while scientists had said the strong solar flare would essentially supercharge the northern lights and make them visible farther south, some experts cautioned that the display would not be as impressive in those lower latitudes.

"This could be a great show for people in the mid-to-upper U.S. latitudes for aurora," C. Alex Young, NASA's associate director for science at the Heliophysics Division of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center, told Space.com. "Especially those in Canada, [Upper Peninsula of Michigan], Alaska, Iceland, Norway, Scotland, etc."

Landing on most travelers’ bucket lists, experts say the best time to witness the northern lights is typically in the springtime (March/April) and autumn (September/October), which has the highest level of aurora activity, according to Norway’s official visitor website.

Kelly Hayes and the Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.