Northern Lights Unlikely for Anyone Thursday Night on Seacoast

🌠 It was first thought people in 17 states would see the Northern Lights Thursday

🌠 The behavior of the solar storm needed to trigger the display changed

The prospects for anyone to see a Northern Lights display on the Seacoast and northern United States are now non-existent.

The solar storm predicted to trigger a Northern Lights display visible in 17 states will not happen according to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute, which made the original forecast last week based on data from NOAA.

17 states including Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Indiana, Maine, and Maryland were all expected to have a great view. Now, no one will see them.

"The high levels of activity previously expected are now considered much less likely," the institute tweeted.

Forecasting "space weather" like the Northern Lights can only be accurately three days out, AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Lada told USA Today. Anything beyond that is speculation, according to Lada.

Many meteorologists, including Townsquare Media Meteorologst Dan Zarrow, were among those skeptical that the display would be as visible as predicted.

The University of Alaska-Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute is still optimistic that the Northern Lights could still be visible in the U.S.

"We are heading toward solar maximum, which brings a gradual increase in the sun’s activity, so there will be plenty more opportunities for lower latitude aurora fans to see the lights," the institute said on its Twitter account.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH