Scientists say parts of the lower 48 states could witness the Northern Lights and some other effects tonight as the aftermath of a powerful explosion on the sun travels toward the Earth.

The Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a G3 (Strong) warning for Wednesday evening, saying a geomagnetic storm could cause the Northern Lights to be seen as far south as Oregon and Illinois. The scientists say recent events on the sun could trigger the storm in the night sky.

According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, the sun underwent a coronal mass ejection on Monday and released a significant amount of plasma and magnetic material into space. That material is expected to impact the Earth’s magnetosphere tonight, according to the scientists, creating conditions ripe for a geomagnetic storm that could possibly linger into Thursday.

Geomagnetic storms involve the disruption of Earth’s natural magnetic elements, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center. The scientists caution storms of this strength can impact satellites, radio transmissions and necessitate some voltage corrections in power supplies.