We could be in for a New Year's aurora treat with northern lights potentially visible deep into mid-latitudes tonight and tomorrow (Dec. 30 to Dec. 31).

Due to an incoming solar storm, also known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm warning for Dec. 31.

This is great news for those wishing to see the northern lights as the predicted geomagnetic storm could spark auroras as far south as Illinois and Oregon (around 50° latitude).

The culprit? A CME — a vast plume of plasma and magnetic field — was hurled out into space by the sun on Dec. 29 and Earth is in the firing line. The CME isn't alone, several other eruptions over the last few days have also produced Earth-directed eruptions which are expected to trigger strong geomagnetic storm conditions on Dec. 31, according to Solar Astrophysicist Ryan French.