Northern lights possible for some Monday night in the PNW

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Friday's amazing aurora borealis display over the greater Portland-Vancouver metro area will continue for some Monday and even Tuesday night.

If you missed Friday's show-stopping event over the skies of Western Oregon and Washington you've still got a chance to see them early this week in parts of the Pacific Northwest. Heading north is your best option. The northern lights won't be anywhere as strong as what the continental U.S experienced Friday night, but some will still see a few colors dancing across the night skies for Monday and Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the northern lights won't be visible in Portland or much of western Oregon and Washington this week. The solar winds from the sun won't be strong enough to penetrate the earth's magnetic field enough to push it any farther south than the northeast corner of Washington Monday and Tuesday. Even then, the views will be along the horizon and likely not visible to the naked eye.

Many Oregonians found that it was much easier to see the colors of the aurora from our mobile phone cameras Friday and even Saturday for some. That won't be the case this week. That would involve another burst of protons and elections to be forced towards earth from the sun like what was seen Friday night.