PICTURES: Maine is Treated to a Spectacular Northern Lights Show

Even in Portland, Maine, the Northern Lights were simply amazing thanks to a rare solar storm!

According to a CNN article, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (a division of the National Weather Service) observed conditions of an extreme geomagnetic storm around 7 pm on Friday, May 10. That storm reached a level 5 out of 5 severity. The last time a solar storm of this severity reached Earth was in October 2003. Because of it, there were power outages in Sweden, and power transformers in South Africa were damaged. But for most of the world, this latest storm resulted in a magnificent Northern Lights show that nearly everyone could see!

Skowhegan, Maine

Izzy Bouchard (Izzy Bouchard Photography) caught the light show in Skowhegan. Izzy had never seen the aurora borealis before, and commented on her Facebook post,

Shout out to Camilla Jones for calling me to say the northern lights were out tonight! I’ve never seen them before and all I can say is DANG!

"Dang" is a good way to describe these pictures!

If she can capture the northern lights so well, imagine what your wedding pictures would look like!

Skowhegan has never been so pretty.

Turner, Maine

Anna Pillsbury also caught some amazing pictures of the light show! For many of us, we got a glimpse of something we've never seen before!

Even in Portland, Maine, just off the Eastern Prom, the Northern Lights were visible and gorgeous!

Portland, Maine

What a rare treat! To be able to see the Northern Lights even in the city of Portland, Maine, with all the artificial lighting is remarkable.

I'm so grateful to people for staying up and looking outside, as I was sound asleep when the rare solar storm gave us this incredible light show!