Aurora Borealis: 'Northern Lights' Show May be Opening Act for Lyrid Meteor Shower

A solar flare directed at Earth may provide a "spectacular" display of Northern Lights Saturday evening, and prime viewing could be in the skies over Nothern Virginia.

The aurora borealis, more commonly known as the Northern Lights, can be seen as colorful wisps in the skies, most often greens with areas of pinks, blues and yellows.

For a preview, you can look at these pictures of he Northern Lights or this video of the Northern Lights.

A Twitter feed has been created to provide updates throughout the day Saturday.

AccuWeather.com reports that the flare is expected to cause vibrant northern lights from the Arctic as far south as Washington and had been roughly estimated for 8 p.m. EDT Saturday arrival -- but it looks like they could appear a couple of hours late.

Of course, the darker area you're in, the more spectacular the show. And the weather forecast for the Northern Lights seems to be cooperating, with mostly clear skies ahead of us.

The appearance by the Northern Lights comes just in advance of the Lyrid meteor shower which peaks April 22.