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Northern lights forecast maps for tonight show best areas in U.S. to see aurora borealis

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The northern lights made an incredible display over much of the United States on Thursday — and might make a return appearance Friday night. 

The aurora borealis was visible as far south as Florida on Thursday. Photos show the sky lit up in red and purple, even in some brightly-lit areas like New York City and Chicago

The strong geomagnetic storm that created such a show has subsided, according the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but some parts of the U.S. may again see the northern lights tonight. Here’s what to know. 

New York City Exteriors And Landmarks
The Northern Lights are visible over the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge on October 11, 2024 near New York City.

Roy Rochlin / Getty Images


Where will the northern lights be visible tonight?

The northern lights will be visible for parts of the northern U.S., according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center’s aurora forecast. The aurora will be visible over much of Canada and Alaska, but the northern lights can also be seen from as far as 620 miles away if the conditions are right, NOAA says. 

Parts of Idaho, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin may be able to see the lights Friday night. On the East Coast, the aurora might be visible in northern New York and parts of Vermont and New Hampshire. Areas of Maine may also see the northern lights. 

The lights will appear to the north when it’s dark outside. If you can’t see them with the naked eye, they may be visible through a phone camera or other device. 

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The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center aurora forecast for October 11, 2024. 

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center


What time will the northern lights be most visible?

The northern lights are most visible just after sunset or just before sunrise, NOAA said. The aurora is not visible during the day. Dark, cloudless skies with little artificial light provide the best viewing experience. 

Major Aurora Display Across The United States
The night sky in Wisconsin glows with the Northern Lights as a geomagnetic storm brings vibrant pink and green colors to a majority of the northern states.

Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images


Why have the northern lights been so visible lately?

Over the last several months the sun has been incredibly active, unleashing a series of coronal mass ejections from its surface, CBS Boston reported. That’s resulted in multiple visible aurora shows. 

The geomagnetic storm responsible for Thursday’s stunning skies is now subsiding, CBS Boston reported. That means there will be less chance of seeing the aurora on Friday, but there may be more opportunities in the future. 

Shawn Dahl, a forecast coordinator with the Space Weather Prediction Center, told CBS Boston that the northern lights have been so intense lately because of where the sun is in its 11-year solar cycle. Dahl said that “we are in the midst of solar maximum.”

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The northern lights were seen in southern Indiana County on October 10, 2024.

Heather Kepple


“What that means is the sun is now this twisted-up mass of strong magnetic fields, and some of these are so localized and intense they reveal themselves as these sunspot groups,” Dahl said. “That’s the source of a bunch of the space weather storms that we’re looking for and predict.”  

What causes the northern lights?

The northern lights are caused by interactions between the sun’s solar winds and the Earth’s protective magnetic field, according to NOAA. Those two phenomenons result in geomagnetic storms and increased geomagnetic activity.

The higher the geomagnetic activity is, the better your odds are of seeing the aurora. Increased geomagnetic activity means the aurora will become brighter, more active and visible farther from the poles of the planet, NOAA said. 

Even moderate solar wind creates the aurora, NOAA said, so there is usually a weak aurora visible from somewhere on Earth. The best places to see these weaker auroras is close to the planet’s poles, like in Greenland or southern Argentina. If you see the aurora near the North Pole, it’s nicknamed the northern lights. The same phenomenon near the South Pole is called the southern lights. 



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The Scott Peterson case: New evidence?

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Laci and Scott Peterson

Evidence photo


What started out as a college romance ended in murder and mystery. 

1994  Scott Peterson and Laci Rocha met in 1994 while both were attending college at California Polytechnic State University. They married two years later. In 2002, Laci became pregnant. The two lived in Modesto, California and planned to raise their unborn son Conner there.

Laci Peterson Missing

peterson-lacy.jpg

Evidence photo


December 24, 2002 – Scott Peterson says that on Christmas Eve morning, he left his pregnant wife alone to go fishing about 90 miles away at the Berkeley Marina. He says that Laci planned to walk the couple’s dog, McKenzie, and mop the kitchen floor. When Scott returned home hours later, he says he found McKenzie there alone, still wearing a leash – but no sign of Laci. That evening, Laci’s stepfather called the police to report her missing. 

Searching for Laci

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KMAX


Family, friends, and volunteers launched a huge search for Laci Peterson.

Scott Peterson was interviewed by police in the early hours of Christmas Day.  Now-retired Modesto Police Detective Jon Buehler says Scott didn’t seem as interested as one would expect. “Oftentimes, a victim who’s left behind is firing tons of questions at us … And we didn’t get any of that from him,” Buehler told “48 Hours.” 

Amber Frey

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Evidence photo


December 30, 2002 – Less than a week after Laci Peterson went missing, Modesto detectives raced over to investigate an intriguing lead: a Fresno massage therapist named Amber Frey revealed that she had been dating Scott Peterson for over a month. She told police that Peterson had lied to her and said he was single.  

Secret Recordings

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Evidence photo


Former Detective Buehler notes, “Her recall was fantastic. It was almost like it was a script from a Hallmark TV show or something.” Amber Frey recalled every detail of their romantic dates, down to what they were wearing. Hoping for clues that might lead them to the missing woman, detectives ask Frey to record phone calls between her and Scott Peterson, and she agrees.

Affair Revealed

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Evidence photo


January 24, 2003 – In an explosive press conference one month after Laci Peterson goes missing, Amber Frey publicly reveals her affair with Scott Peterson. “I am very sorry for Laci’s family and the pain that this has caused them,” she said. “And I pray for her safe return, as well.” 

Prior to Frey going public, Peterson had told her in a recorded call that he was in Paris when he was really in Modesto while the search for Laci was still on.  Eventually Scott admitted to her, “I’ve lied to you that I’ve been traveling.” Those recorded calls would later become part of a damning case against Peterson.

Bodies Found

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CBS News


April 13 and 14, 2003 – Two bodies are found on the shores of the San Francisco Bay. They are later identified as Laci Peterson and her unborn child. The two bodies were found about a mile apart. 

Scott Peterson Arrested

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Evidence photo


April 18, 2003 – Authorities caught up with Scott Peterson at a golf course in San Diego and arrested him. Authorities found a wad of cash, his brother’s ID card, and multiple cell phones inside the vehicle. Days later, Peterson pleaded not guilty to two counts of capital murder.  

Trial and Error

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AP


June 1, 2004 – Scott Peterson’s trial begins in San Mateo County, California. Because of massive publicity the trial was moved from Modesto to Redwood City, in San Mateo County. The decision was made because the judge decided it would be difficult for Peterson to get a fair trial too close to home, where emotions were running high.

High Suspicions

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AP


August 10, 2004 – In what many consider a major turning point of the trial, Amber Frey took the stand for the first time to tell the jury about her relationship with Scott Peterson, a secretly married man, and about all the lies he told her. Frey painted a picture of a dishonest man who could tell falsehoods with ease, hurting his credibility. 

Jurors heard the lies for themselves in those recorded phone calls Frey made.

Justice for Laci and Conner

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AP


November 12, 2004 – Scott Peterson was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of his wife Laci and second-degree murder for the death of his unborn son Conner. Crowds outside cheer.  

Peterson Jurors

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CBS News


March 16, 2005 – Four months after his conviction, Scott Peterson is sentenced to death.  At a press conference, Juror No. 7, Richelle Nice, [pictured center] called Peterson a “jerk” and commented “San Quentin is your new home,” referring to the prison where he would serve his sentence. Nice was nicknamed “Strawberry Shortcake” during the trial because of her hair color.  

Death Sentence Overturned

Scott Peterson 2018 mug shot

AP


August 24, 2020 – After two appeals, Scott Peterson’s death sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court after deciding that the original trial judge made a mistake when jurors were being picked for trial. The result of that mistake, Peterson’s supporters say, was that the jury was stacked with pro death penalty jurors. Peterson, shown here in 2018, will now receive a new trial for only the sentence phase.

The court upheld his murder convictions.

Juror No. 7

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AP


October 14, 2020 – The California Supreme Court orders a lower court to reexamine Peterson’s murder convictions and decide if he should get an entire new trial. Scott Peterson’s supporters say it all comes down to the actions of that juror once nicknamed “Strawberry Shortcake” – Richelle Nice, pictured here in 2005. 

During jury selection, prospective jurors filled out a questionnaire asking if they had in the past been in a lawsuit and if they had been crime victims.  Nice checked no.  “It’s pretty clear… that she lied to us straight to our face about her own situation,” Peterson’s current attorney Pat Harris told “48 Hours.”  In fact, Nice was involved in two domestic disputes in the past. But prosecutors say when Nice filled out that questionnaire she didn’t lie, she just didn’t think her past experiences were relevant to the questions and didn’t see herself as a victim. Now a lower court will consider if Peterson will get a complete retrial.  Richelle Nice declined to speak with “48 Hours.”

New Evidence?

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CBS News


March 7, 2021 – CBS News’ Jonathan Vigliotti interviewed Scott Peterson’s sister-in-law Janey Peterson in her “war room” of evidence she claims proves his innocence. She claims witnesses saw Laci walking in the neighborhood near the Peterson home after the time Scott said he left for the fishing trip. If that’s true, Scott couldn’t have killed Laci.

Scott Peterson’s attorney explains, “there’s been a lot of criticism because we didn’t call some witnesses who saw Laci that day,” and that the thought process at the time was that “a number of the witnesses who saw her didn’t have great – memories or had contra  – were contradicting each other.”  

Retired detective Jon Buehler says there are no witnesses who saw Laci alive that morning.  He says there were other young women in the neighborhood who were pregnant and looked similar to Laci, and that “it would be real easy for somebody to mistakenly see one of those three girls as being Laci.”  Still, Janey Peterson insists that Scott is innocent. 

A Burglary

Steven Todd and Donald Pearce

Modesto Police Department


Perhaps more important to a new defense case is what Janey Peterson believes actually happened to Laci. She points to a burglary she believes happened on the same day Laci disappeared, right across the street from the Peterson home. Scott Peterson’s supporters theorize that Laci confronted the burglars and that ended badly.  But police quickly arrested the burglars – Steven Todd and Donald Pearce  – pictured here in a 2003 Modesto Police Department press release. 

Awaiting a Decision

Scott and Laci Peterson

Court evidence


April 27, 2021 – Scott Peterson appeared in court remotely for a status hearing on a new death penalty trial. 

Dec. 8, 2021: Scott Peterson was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the deaths of his wife and unborn child.

2024: The Los Angeles Innocence Project  took up Peterson’s fight for a new trial.  Since then, a California judge has granted his defense team access to previously undisclosed evidence as well as permission to do additional DNA testing.

Peterson and his supporters maintain the wrong man is in prison for Laci and Conner’s deaths.  According to Detective Buehler, “Well, I guess it’s possible. But you know, there’s still people that believe the Earth is flat too.”



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Will the bill to avert a government shutdown pass without Trump’s support?

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Will the bill to avert a government shutdown pass without Trump’s support? – CBS News


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For the second time in three months, Congress is facing a fast-approaching deadline to pass a short-term funding bill to prevent a government shutdown. President-elect Donald Trump and some other Republican lawmakers have spoken out against it. Meanwhile, Trump has suggested that members of the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 committee should be criminally targetted. CBS News’ Hunter Woodall and Ed O’Keefe have more details.

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Why is there new hope for a ceasefire in Gaza?

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Why is there new hope for a ceasefire in Gaza? – CBS News


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There is fresh optimism in the Middle East that a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war is closer than ever. CBS News’ Chris Livesay reports. Then, Jon Alterman, senior vice president and director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins “The Daily Report” to analyze why.

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