By Brian Lada, Meteorologist
May 10,2016; 10:30PM,EDT
The northern lights danced across the night sky over the past weekend, dazzling stargazers across Canada and the northern United States.
The best of the cosmic light show focused on the northern Plains, Canadian Prairies and around the Rocky Mountains, dazzling stargazers that were up on Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
Unfortunately, clouds inhibited viewing for many across the northeastern U.S.; however, fewer clouds benefitted those in Ontario and Quebec.
The Mother's Day aurora was a result of a surprisingly strong solar storm, being classified as a G3 geomagnetic storm, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. This made it one of the strongest solar storms so far this year.
This also occurred just two days after the new moon, meaning that the moon was giving off a very small amount of light pollution, making the aurora appear brighter.
The northern lights were observed again on Sunday night across Canada and the northern U.S.; however, the solar storm had weakened by then, limiting the brightness of the aurora.
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The aurora in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. (Photo/AccuAstronomy Fan Teren Photography)
The northern lights glowing over Oregon. (Photo/AccuAstronomy Fan Michael Blake)
The northern lights as seen from Shepherd, Montana. (Photo/AccuAstronomy Fan Jullie Powell)
Mother's Day 2016 Aurora - Teviotdale, Ontario @eljakeo30 @TamithaSkov @AuroraMAX @SpaceWeatherCA @TweetAurora
The northern lights as seen from space. (Photo/VIIRS)
The aurora glowing in front of the Milky Way in Shepherd, Montana. (Photo/AccuAstronomy Fan Jullie Powell)
The aurora seen from Grayling, Michigan. (Photo/AccuAstronomy Fan Dustin Godspeed Art & Photography)For more astronomy news, be sure to follow our astronomy pages on Facebook and Twitter.
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