The northern lights made a rare appearance in the skies over San Luis Obispo County on Friday night as a powerful geomagnetic storm brought the colorful phenomenon much farther south than it’s typically seen.

Residents in dark sky locations near Santa Margarita and Creston reported seeing pinkish hues in the night sky.

But you had to be away from city lights.

In more northern locales around the world, people posted dramatic photos of the colorful dancing lights.

On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Center Prediction Center issued an alert for a severe geomagnetic storm that was expected to arrive late Friday or early Saturday.

It meant the northern lights — or aurora borealis — could be seen in the night sky above parts of the United States on Friday through Sunday.

“The aurora may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to Northern California,” NOAA said.

NOAA issued a G4-level watch in advance of the solar storm, predicting a big disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field.

“Watches at this level are very rare,” said NOAA, which last issued one in 2005.

Send us your photos

Did you get any photos of the northern lights in SLO County? Send your photos to jtarica@thetribunenews.com and we’ll post them here.