Auckland's Te Whatu Stardome said a strong coronal mass ejection that erupted from the sun on Monday was expected to reach Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday afternoon.
"This could bring the possibility of aurora being visible from southern parts of Aotearoa New Zealand tonight. The impact is likely to spark a G2 (moderate) to G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm," Te Whatu Stardome said.
It said the best viewing would be from southern locations with clear skies and minimal light pollution.
The aurora may be visible with the naked and clearly visible with a camera, according to the University of Otago's Aurora Alert. It said the best places to view the aurora were dark beaches on the east coast of the southern part of the South Island.
However, it may be visible as far north as Auckland.
"Aurora strength is notoriously hard to predict, but there's always a chance of a stronger display which sometimes is visible as far north as Auckland, as we've seen several times over the past year," Te Whatu Stardome said.
The weather in the South Island is forecast to be more favourable for aurora viewing, with mostly clear skies on Tuesday evening, according to MetService, while, the North Island is in for some cloud and rain that is expected to clear on Wednesday.
What is an aurora
Usually, particles from solar flares bounce off the Earth's magnetic field, but when there is a severe eruption, they can penetrate the ionosphere and interact with gases around the magnetic poles - causing the ribbons of colour.
Auroras are usually confined to certain latitudes in the north and south, which makes them relatively rare to observe for most of the population.
The pinks, purples and greens that are often associated with aurora are the particles interacting with different gasses. Simply put, oxygen - which emits greenish-yellow or red light - and nitrogen - which emits blue light - in the upper atmosphere release specific colours when bombarded by solar radiation.
