With cloud cover rolling in at Clark Lake, seeing the NOAA-promised northern light show seemed dubious.  Not so for Diane Deming.  She caught four awesome photos last night (Fri 5/10).  But it didn’t start that way.  Standing on the dock at around 10:30 pm, she couldn’t see much just by looking at the sky.  When she aimed her camera upward, Clark Lake’s stage presented something spectacular.  Check out the slideshow below.

Diane said the show didn’t last long as the clouds began to obscure the view. Those clouds eventually brought rain overnight, about 1/2 inch.

As reported yesterday evening on this website and by most media, NOAA forecast the cause of the northern lights, a major geomagnetic storm.  According to the Weather Channel, this is the first time a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch has been issued since January 2005.  On a scale of 1 to 9, this is an 8.   NOAA warns at least five Earth-directed coronal mass ejections from today through Sunday.

This kind of activity has the potential to disrupt communications, the power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.  But it also can put on a light show – northern lights – over a large part of the country.