Northern Lights 2024 Washington State. The northern lights are created when energized particles from the sun slam into earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph (72 million kph), but our planet's magnetic field. Millions across north america got to experience a total solar eclipse monday afternoon.

The aurora borealis, or northern lights, might be visible in washington this week. The most recent northern and southern hemisphere images (with static file names) are available: