Regardless of which online echo chamber you call home, one of the few things most Oklahomans can agree on is that they’d like to see the Northern Lights at one point in their short miserable life without visiting Canada or Alaska.
Well, last night the Aurora Borealis zipped its way down for a rare bucket list visit to the Sooner state, and – if you’re anything like me – you totally missed it, loser.
Just got home and grabbed a quick shot off the camera. The Midwestern Lights. Wakita, OK 😁 Good night! #AuroraBorealis #okwx @KOCOdamonlane @koconews pic.twitter.com/slFsFj0xsO
— Edgar ONeal (@EdgarLance1) April 24, 2023
Only for the 2nd time in Oklahoma, and the 3rd time in my life, I am watching the #aurora. Amazing!#okwx#AuroraBorealis pic.twitter.com/l8RGAWJNkX
— Greg McLaughlin (@GregMc_wx) April 24, 2023
The #northern lights in #Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/YcvEOkSzwK
— JEROMY CARTER (@JEROMYCARTER1) April 24, 2023
Yep. that’s right. One of your biggest bucket list items happened on a clear, beautiful night in the state you call home, and you missed it while curled up on your couch watching Succession and dealing with the Sunday Scaries.
What a pathetic loser you are.
The Northern Lights from Talala Oklahoma.#NorthernLights #Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/zUl3byHumS
— Blake Rains (@brains003) April 24, 2023
AMAZING |
— Amber Nowaski (@AmberN_WX) April 24, 2023
Northern lights visible from Pontotoc county this morning! This taken in Lula, Oklahoma.
📸: Chad Short#okwx #texomawx pic.twitter.com/uQ08UCf4y1
Some people literally travel thousands of miles to see swirling colors dancing across the night sky like a giant hallucinatory vision quest, and you could have done it with just a quick drive up Northwest Expressway to Eichens Chicken, but nope, here you are on Monday morning, looking at social media photos that don’t come anywhere close to capturing the translucent glowing magic of experiencing the night’s sky lighting up like the Pink Floyd laser spectacular.
The long exposure/high ISO camera shot caught more than we saw with the naked eye, but it's not every day you can see the #AuroraBorealis in Oklahoma…
— Bill Wasinger (@PaleHoseComm) April 24, 2023
Location: 4 miles NW of Okarche, OK
📸 by David Ewoldt/ @OKWeatherWatch #aurorainOklahoma #NorthernLights @NWSNorman pic.twitter.com/zW6pS2ufDV
A pic of tonight's Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) as seen by storm chaser Stephen Jones near Oklahoma City. pic.twitter.com/PSrXpfDX1v
— Alabama News Beacon (@alnewsbeacon) April 24, 2023
But don’t beat yourself up too much for missing the northern lights.
Even people like me who follow Oklahoma news and weather for a living were not informed by social media algorithms that there was a chance we could see the aurora borealis from just outside the metro until we woke up this morning.
The view of the Northern Lights from the Medford Mesonet location, taken by Oklahoma Mesonet technician Steve Thompson. Incredible sight at an incredible site! #okwx #okmesonet pic.twitter.com/SFQBa8KuaD
— Oklahoma Mesonet (@okmesonet) April 24, 2023
NORTHERN LIGHTS IN OKLAHOMA! With clear skies, you may have seen a colorful view looking north overnight as a solar geomagnetic storm took place..AKA as the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. News 9 Storm Tracker Jeromy Carter took in the lights near HW 412 and I-35. pic.twitter.com/AfOfS2Tp7D
— Cassie (@CassieHeiter) April 24, 2023
It makes you wonder if there should be a silver alert-style iPhone emergency alert notification system to warn us for the next rare moment you can see the northern lights. That's one we'd actually pay attention to.
Anyway, until the next time the northern lights visit Oklahoma and you have no clue until the following morning when your social media timeline is packed full of photos of the event, stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised, loser.