A rare event occurred over western Massachusetts last night (Thursday, March 23rd). The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis appeared in the skies over the Bay State. Reportedly, the lights were seen as far away as Washington, D.C. But Massachusetts definitely got a majestic glimpse of the unique event.

The Northern Lights were brought further south due to a powerful geomagnetic storm. In case you are wondering how the Northern Lights are formed, what happens is solar energy from the sun runs into the Earth's magnetic field. The solar storm that produced the lights was graded as a G4 on a scale that goes as high as G5.

Some that saw the lights appear in the skies over Massachusetts took to social media last night to post about the rare event, such as WBZ-TV meteorologist Jacob Wycoff.

It was Kalpesh Krishna that captured the photo in the social media post, which happened to be over UMass-Amherst. Here's what Wycoff had to say about the lights:

You see the bright green and pink on the horizon...This is one of the best geomagnetic storms that I've seen in quite a long time - and it's kind of been a surprise one.

Wycoff goes into further detail in the video here:

Some mages of the Northern Lights you might see in more northern latitudes were the lights are more distinct in the night sky might look something like this:

Vincent Guth via Unsplash
Vincent Guth via Unsplash
loading...
Lightscape via Unsplash
Lightscape via Unsplash
loading...
Nicolas J Leclercq via Unsplash
Nicolas J Leclercq via Unsplash
loading...

The event was even more spectacular since the Northern Lights are typically seen over areas with lesser populations, dimly lit, and have less pollution, for that matter. Most areas in Massachusetts aren't exactly ripe for that type of setting. But lately, it seems you never know what you might find in the night skies, regardless of where you are.

These 12 Massachusetts Towns Are So Fake...But Are They?

The 10 Most Badly Mispronounced Cities or Towns in Massachusetts

19 Massachusetts Towns That End In 'ham'

More From WBEC AM