A Stunning Sight for the NWKS Radio Crowd

Kristina Hemel
Nov 12, 2025
3 min read

Photos sent in from NWKS Radio listeners. Photos from Northwest Kansas, East Central Colorado, and Southwest Nebraska of the Northern Lights on Nov 11, 2025

If you were out under the wide Kansas sky last night (Tuesday, November 11, 2025), you might’ve caught something amazing: the glowing waves of the Aurora Borealis — the “Northern Lights” — lighting up the skies over our NWKS Radio listening area. Yes, right here in northwest Kansas.

What the heck are the Northern Lights (in plain English)

Up in space, our Sun sometimes gives off a big blast of charged particles — think of it like it sneezes and sends a cloud of tiny energetic bits our way. (Hurtigruten)
When that cloud hits Earth, our planet’s magnetic field kind of acts like a funnel or shield: it steers some of those particles toward the north and south regions (the poles). (Michigan Technological University)
When those particles crash into the gases up high in our atmosphere, they make those gases glow. That glow shows up as green, pink, sometimes purple or red—yep, that magical shimmering you see. (Space)
Usually, this all happens way up north (Alaska, Scandinavia) because that’s where the field lines direct the particles most often. But when the Sun’s blast is extra strong, the lights can drift farther south—and last night was one of those nights. (Wikipedia)

What happened last night in our corner of Kansas

Our team at NWKS Radio—Joel and Kristina—have waited on nights promising auroras before. They’ve gone out, tried their cameras, sometimes seen nothing, sometimes a tiny hint. But last night? They spotted it with the naked eye. No filters, no special camera required.

And it wasn’t just them. On our Facebook page, folks in the country were posting photo after photo: from family farms, rural roads, open skies. Some of the messages:

“It was around 13 ish years ago a smaller mag storm occurred and I remember seeing the northern lights just barely on the horizon without a camera (I didn’t have a low-light camera back then like today). Although this mag storm is way more powerful.”

“I lived on the Wallace County line south of Ruleton in the ’50s. We could occasionally see the northern lights. They were usually blue or green and danced like tongues of fire. The view was naked eye. Didn’t have the technology back then. I’m thrilled to see these with the naked eye!”

People reported driving out into darker country roads, looking north or northwest, and spotting that eerie green-ish or pink‐ish glow flickering. Rural skies made it even better because there’s less urban light blocking the show.

Why this storm let us see it so far south

The Sun has been pretty active lately (we’re in a more intense part of its cycle), which means stronger blasts of particles.
That meant more charged particles, more energy, and the “funneling” effect (via Earth’s magnetosphere) extended farther south than usual.
So instead of only folks near the poles, we got included last night.

What about tonight? Could we see it again?

Yes — there’s a chance. Space-weather experts indicate that this geomagnetic storm isn’t completely done yet. If the skies stay clear and you’re in a dark spot looking north, you might get a repeat show.

Tips if you’re going to try:

Head out after dark, preferably between 10 p.m. and around midnight or later.
Find a spot away from town lights: open fields, rural roads, farm pastures.
Look toward the north or northwest horizon — when it’s south of the usual aurora zone, it might sit lower in the sky.
Be patient. Sometimes what you see is faint at first and then grows.
If you have a camera or smartphone: put it on a steady surface (tripod or car hood), set longer exposure if you can — you might catch more than you see by eye.

If you go out tonight and catch something — please send us your photo. We’d love to share it on the NWKS Radio Facebook page.

Final word

Last night was special. For many of us in northwest Kansas, it’s not every day you look up and see the Northern Lights dancing overhead. If you caught it—lucky you. If you missed it—there’s hope again tonight. And either way, keep your eyes on the night sky: the universe just gave us a show worth watching.