Northern Lights viewing in Michigan: There's a right place, time and a wrong one

A combination of cloud cover arrival and location means we need to figure out where to go and when to go to see northern lights.

We do have a swath of clouds that will move across all of Michigan’s skies Saturday night. The problem is the anticipated best chance of widespread northern lights also occurs at the time clouds will be thickening over Michigan.

Tonight we also have a good chance at northern lights occurring. If you want a more sure-bet on clear skies, tonight would be the better night to stay up late and watch for northern lights. The cloud forecast below for midnight tonight shows clear skies. The numbers indicate amount of cloud cover, and most of the numbers are zero.

But Saturday could lead you to better northern lights if you get to the right spot at the right time.

Let’s look at the cloud forecast to get us to the right spot Saturday night. You can see with the cloud forecast below for Saturday night.

Saturday evening just after dark your best chance of clear skies will be in Michigan’s Thumb and especially the eastern shoreline of the Thumb. Northwest Lower and the Upper Peninsula may be too cloudy Saturday evening to see northern lights.

Very early Sunday morning the skies will clear across northwest Lower Michiga and the Upper Peninsula, while southern and eastern Lower Michigan clouds up.

So we will have to plan our location for northern lights viewing Saturday night. Hopefully you can use this cloud forecast to get to the right spot for you.