How visible were the northern lights in Kansas & Missouri this week? What readers saw
Were you lucky enough to see the northern lights around Kansas City this week?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed a low probability of Missouri and Kansas seeing the Aurora Borealis Tuesday, Nov. 11, but a “view line” touched the Missouri-Iowa border, meaning it could be visible to some parts in the right conditions.
Those conditions were firmly met Tuesday, as the northern lights were visible throughout Kansas and Missouri, capturing the eyes of many residents.
While the luck didn’t really carry over to Wednesday night, The Star asked readers to share their photos and experiences of seeing the northern lights, whether in their backyard or if they traveled to get a better look. And they delivered.
Here’s a look at what they saw Tuesday night.
Aurora Borealis sights from Missouri
Readers from the Kansas City metro and as far away as Saline County shared what their cameras captured of Aurora Borealis.
Maureen Boesen from Kansas City went to the National WWI Museum and Memorial to snap a picture of the sky, where you could see a faint hue of the northern lights above Union Station.
Jett Adkins captured this photo near his residence in Independence, where the lights were more visible away from the light pollution of the city.
“More magnificent than I ever imagined!” Adkins said.
“Absolutely beautifully amazing!” said Mary Chavis, who also lives in Independence and shared this look of the night sky.
The colors were brighter the farther away you got from Kansas City, like this photo taken by reader Nathan Hoots in Lee’s Summit.
A shade of purple could even be seen in this photo from Melody Raines, who lives in Sweet Springs, Missouri, an hour east of Kansas City. She watched the sky with her three daughters well past their bedtime, and said they were in absolute awe of what they witnessed.
“Watching the colors come and go across the sky was undoubtably the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life,” Raines said. “I snuck back outside once more to get a sneak peek, again, and found new colors. Amazing thing to experience.”
The pinks and greens also blended together in this photo from Steven Brockschmidt from Maysville, Missouri, an hour north of Kansas City.
Daniel Corrigan in Bethany, 90 minutes north of Kansas City, captured this view of the northern lights.
The northern lights in Kansas
Readers on the Kansas side also got a good look at the northern lights, spotting the phenomenon all the way in Riley County.
Cynthia Lewis of Douglas County took this photo 50 minutes west from Kansas City.
Steven Hendricks, who lives in Manhattan, nearly two hours west from Kansas City, said this was the night Kansas touched the cosmos. His photo shows the auroras above Lake Elbo, reflecting on still water.
Lawrence native Thomas Raney said it was a pretty magical experience.
David Sutherland captured this photo on his phone of the northern lights looking over his family one mile north of Atchison, Kansas, which is an hour northwest of Kansas City.
Kaylene Brown, who lives in Basehor, said she no idea to go look outside until some Olathe friends texted and asked if she could see the northern lights in her part of town. She and her family were able to see the lights just like her photo shows — just their eyes with no camera view.
“My husband and I agree, we’ve never seen anything like it in Kansas before!” Brown said. “We shared the experience with our teens which makes it even better!”
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 2:37 PM.
