A coronal mass ejection earlier this week may pull the northern lights to more northern U.S. states, forecasters said.

A La Niña winter just started, but it isn't expected to last long. National forecasters are already looking ahead to the spring season.

Normal snowfall, cold temps expected in North Dakota the rest of the winter. Meanwhile, an arctic blast is on the way for the holiday weekend.

Satellite imagery captured blowing snow sweeping across parts of North Dakota and Minnesota on Friday, January 17, as an arctic front settled in to the region.The National Weather Service warned of blizzard conditions along the border with Canada,

The stunning northern lights should continue well into the weekend and may reach down into the middle parts of the US.

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are poised to dazzle U.S. skies tonight, stretching farther south than usual due to an impending geomagnetic storm. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

The below average count was expected this year for wintering waterfowl due to cold temperatures in late November and early January leading up to the survey.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual midwinter waterfowl survey in early January indicated about 88,000 Canada geese and 3,225 mallards in the state. Learn more in this week’s “North Dakota Outdoors” webcast. Host Mike Anderson visits with John Palarski, the Game and Fish department’s migratory game bird biologist.

To see where North Dakota has been of late and what’s in store down the road, Jeb Williams, Game and Fish Department director, assesses the state of the state from an outdoor perspective.

The resolution introduced by Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, Sen. Dean Rummel, R-Dickinson, Rep. Austin Foss, D-Fargo, Rep. Karla Hanson, D-Fargo, and Rep. Eric Murphy, R-Grand Forks, aims to protect a critical and disappearing natural resource: darkness.

North Dakota lawmakers will consider a resolution Thursday that would establish a statewide Dark Sky Week to combat light pollution and protect migrating birds. Senate Concurrent Resolution 4004, which would designate April 21-28 as Dark Sky Week,

The extreme North Dakota cold is known to disrupt several industries, including the production of oil and natural gas.