{"id":25364,"date":"2024-10-12T14:24:40","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T20:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/northern-lights-leave-southwest-colorado-residents-awe-struck\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:15:23","slug":"northern-lights-leave-southwest-colorado-residents-awe-struck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/northern-lights-leave-southwest-colorado-residents-awe-struck\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern lights leave Southwest Colorado residents awe-struck"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, as seen near Purgatory Resort on Thursday north of Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durangoans and Silvertonians were treated to a rare light show after sundown Thursday when an aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, appeared in the night skies.<\/p>\n

Some residents reported having to use their smartphone cameras to observe the colorful, spectral effects of a geomagnetic storm forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s Space Weather Prediction Center, which expects the event to persist through Friday night.<\/p>\n

\"The
The aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, as seen looking over Haviland Lake north of Durango on Thursday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s Space Weather Prediction Center forecast more auroras through Friday night. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But others, particularly in Silverton at 9,302 feet elevation, said they bore witness to the phenomenon with their naked eyes. Still, spectators said viewing through a smartphone camera lens enhanced the dazzling display significantly.<\/p>\n

Jerilyn Yazzie, who lives in the Trimble area north of Durango, said she stepped outside and looked northeast toward Missionary Ridge where she could make out greenish and pinkish hues in the sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing. I think this is on everyone\u2019s bucket list and I was glad to view it from home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said she took out her phone, set it to night mode and long exposure over 10 seconds, and took her shot. She posted the photo, depicting elegant, pink cosmic rays giving way to an arching green light, on Nextdoor for others to see.<\/p>\n

It was a moment of a lifetime, and a pretty one at that, she said.<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cIf I didn\u2019t have another person there to tell me to switch my phone to long exposure, I probably would have never (seen) it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Silverton
Silverton resident Bonnie Dumond said the aurora borealis visible across Colorado skies Thursday evening showed itself by about 7:30 p.m., before the day\u2019s sunlight had faded away. (Courtesy of Bonnie Dumond)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At one point, she and a companion got in her car and drove further away from U.S. Highway 550 because the headlights of vehicles were cramping their view. She suspects the amount of traffic on the road at that hour was due to people flocking to the countryside to view the aurora.<\/p>\n

\"A
A violet and pink aura glows above the hillside at the SkyRidge townhomes along Goeglein Gulch Drive atop College Mesa overlooking Durango. Dave and Jill Donley captured the display from their backyard around 8:05 p.m. Thursday. (Courtesy of Dave and Jill Donley)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Dave and Jill Donley, who live at the SkyRidge townhomes atop the mesa near Fort Lewis College, said their first introduction to an aurora borealis was in Iceland in 2021. They traveled there specifically to witness the northern lights.<\/p>\n

As in Iceland, they required their smartphones on Thursday to see the full spectrum of colors and waves reflecting a magnetosphere in imbalance. They tilted their phones upward at about 8:05 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just an incredible and unique phenomenon,\u201d Dave Donley said. \u201cThe other exciting part is you can capture it on your phone, if you\u2019ve got the capability to do that. It\u2019s just an amazing feat of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, as seen looking over Haviland Lake on Thursday north of Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

While Durango residents largely relied on cameras to see the northern lights, Silverton resident Bonnie Dumond said the small mountain community could clearly see the aurora dancing above the San Juan Mountains without technology.<\/p>\n

She had read about the space weather forecast online, and she said she was determined to witness the event after missing another geomagnetic storm earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The show started around 7:30 p.m. before the sun had fully set, she said. The light show appeared to peak around 7:57 p.m.<\/p>\n

She said the aurora\u2019s onset gave the appearance of a fire erupting in the mountains.<\/p>\n

\"When
When Silverton resident Bonnie Dumond heard a geomagnetic storm was forecast to display the northern lights across Colorado skies Thursday evening, she made an effort not to miss it. She said the light show began with the appearance of a fire, followed by several minutes straight of colored pillars dancing in the sky. (Courtesy of Bonnie Dumond)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIt was red, and then it started,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She was treated to at least several minutes of vertically flowing pillars of light. It was like a phenomenal concert unfolding over the hillsides, she said.<\/p>\n

People ventured out of their homes and into the fresh, 40-some degree alpine air; some, like Dumond, were shivering in their socks, having not bothered to waste time putting on shoes. But she didn\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoping for some more lights tonight,\u201d she said in a message to The Durango Herald<\/em>. \u201cTruly hope they\u2019re the harbinger of a big snow year.\u201d<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Silverton
Silverton resident Bonnie Dumond said she hopes the spectacular aurora borealis or northern lights, visible by the naked eye above her mountain town Thursday evening, is a \u201charbinger of a big snow year.\u201d (Courtesy of Bonnie Dumond)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, as seen near Purgatory resort on Thursday north of Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

forecasts another dazzling show this evening<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[364,28,1625,29,145,327,2826,414],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-community","tag-headlines","tag-nature","tag-newsletter","tag-science-general","tag-silverton","tag-trimble","tag-weather"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78905,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25364\/revisions\/78905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25364"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}