Intense Aurora Photos from Washington, Oregon Coast - More Possible Tonight

Published 11/12/25 at 6:35 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Portland, Oregon) – To put it mildly, the overnight hours of Tuesday into Wednesday have been nuts – around the globe. (Photo NWS Seattle)

Some of the more intense aurora borealis action in a long time took place all the way down to Florida and California in this event. It's coming from not just one but two CME's (coronal mass ejection) from the sun that have combined, and yet a third is on its way. Interestingly, more of it was photographed on the Oregon and Washington coast than inland, with even Portland too clogged by clouds to catch it.

You may get another chance Wednesday evening.

Someone did photograph it in Gresham, however, and left it on the Oregon Coast Beach Connection Facebook page. See the comments on this post.

This was a G4 level alert – a severe geomagnetic storm that is among the strongest of this cycle (which includes the massive May 2024 event). This one rivaled that rare sight, with even Brookings recording some amazing colors, way down on the south Oregon coast and at the California border.

Aurora in Brookings - a rare sight caught by Megan Moreland (cropped from original)

In Seattle, the National Weather Service (NWS) office there caught the above lovely set of colors early in the evening.

Two CME's came together on this event, which is called a “cannibal” CME by scientists.

Early on in the day, OMSI astronomy expert Jim Todd said this was going to be a biggie, and indeed his predictions that it would carry over to the next night appear to be true.

“The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center is forecasting geomagnetic activity with KP levels between 6 and 7 over the next 24 to 48 hours,” Todd said.

Tonight reached well over a Kp 7 and then backed down to Kp 6 – which is still unusually intense.

Catching Northern Lights Wednesday

Allie Sutich photo - Washington State

The SWPC predictions are rather hopeful. Tonight (Wednesday) probably won't make as an intense showing for Oregon, but it could well be visible with your camera gear on a tripod. Cloudy conditions will plague the Pacific Northwest again tonight. Many caught these photos with cloud breaks, so your luck could be different.

Still, the SWPC is showing a very high Kp 6.6 (a G3 storm) for the early evening hours just after sunset. From 8 p.m. through the early morning hours, predictions drop it to a respectable Kp 6 (G2 storm). The third CME is expected to hit today and linger through the evening hours.

“To confirm its presence, use a digital camera (DSLR or advanced smartphone) on a tripod,” Todd said. “Set your camera to take 3 to 5-second exposures pointed towards the northern sky. If the photo reveals shades of green or red, the aurora is active.”

More on Tuesday's Space Weather

Allie Sutich

In Washington, Allie Sutich caught these beauties in greens and deep reds (photos above). The first one especially captures the wide range of colors.

More amazing shots from Ocean Shores on the Washington coast were posted on social.

Way down in Brookings, Megan Moreland caught this amazing sight. The deep reds and pink mean these solar particles were particularly intense (more on that below).

“It was only about 6:15 p.m. and the sky was very dark but looking north it appeared slightly red, so we snapped our first picture and realized it was the Aurora Borealis,” Moreland told Oregon Coast Beach Connection.

What Are Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis?

NASA said it comes from an outflow of charged particles coming from the sun, called the solar winds. In this case, it's from some unusually intense solar flares (specifically an X5.1 flare). When these particles hit they interact with the gasses in our atmosphere and the magnetic field around our planet.

The colors depend on the type of gas that's excited.

“Oxygen excited to different energy levels can produce green and red,” said NASA. “Green occurs roughly between 60 to 120 miles (100-200 km) altitude, and red occurs above 120 miles (200 km).”

The reds mean it's a very intense storm, as up that high that are far fewer gasses to interact with.

You can see a full list of inland Oregon weather predictions here. All Oregon coast towns are listed here (it's the only place you'll find all coastal towns' weather together). These pages also have aurora information as well.

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