The northern lights shine in the night sky above the Palouse on Friday. The lights were caused by an unusually strong solar storm from the sun which caused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue a geomagnetic storm watch for the first time in nearly 20 years. The sun is nearing peak activity in its 11-year cycle, known as solar maximum, leading researchers to observe increasingly intense solar flares. The increased activity has lead to the northern lights being visible in areas they are rarely seen, including New Mexico, California, and southeast England.