A range of conditions need to be met for the northern lights to be visible for those across the Seacoast and southern Maine this week. According to Gianforte, that includes clear skies and a lack of city or street lights as well as viewing from positions of higher elevation.

Weather conditions are not looking favorable as of this writing on Monday.

“If it’s cloudy, you’re not going to see anything. If it’s raining, don’t bother getting up,” Gianforte stated. “If it’s clear or a slight haze, you may be able to see something.”

The National Weather Service in Gray, Maine on Monday was projecting 75% cloud cover across the Seacoast and southern Maine on Thursday, in addition to scattered thunderstorms, said meteorologist Jon Palmer.

“Looks like the probabilities are slightly less along the immediate coast but there definitely is a decent chance for some thunderstorms Thursday night,” Palmer said.

If inclement weather holds off, the phenomenon could potentially be seen in the Seacoast and southern Maine and other areas in lower latitudes that aren’t prone to such spectacles, with shades of blue, green, purple and red light dancing in the sky.

“If we do get a clear patch of sky, and it hits us after 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., and if we look to the north, you could see something,” Gianforte added. “There’s a lot of things that have to happen just right for us to see the Northern Lights on Thursday night.”

There is a chance, he added, the particles from the coronal mass ejection could arrive in the daytime this week, meaning the aurora wouldn’t be visible.

“We kind of have to be a little bit careful not to build things up too much because no one really knows how fast the particles that are involved in the cause of the aurora are traveling from the sun,” Gianforte said. “It all depends on how fast these energetic particles move.”