Northern lights dazzle the Outer Banks skies

Outer Banks visitors were treated to a rare show on Thursday night, October 10, as a geomagnetic storm triggered northern lights all across the United States, including the shorelines of Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands.

The phenomenon started around 7:25 p.m., and resulted in unmistakably pink and purple-hued skies that were captured by sky watchers all along the North Carolina coastline.

The evolving northern lights display lasted into the early morning hours, according to some reports, but it’s unlikely that there will be an Outer Banks encore on Friday night, per the National Weather Service’s aurora borealis forecast.

Aurora Borealis is the result of large bursts of energy from the sun that travel through space and enter the earth’s atmosphere at high latitudes where the magnetic field is weakest.

Northern lights are unusual in North Carolina, although they were also reported earlier in the week at varying spots along the Outer Banks.