usually this is the case, but last november there was a very intense geomagnetic storm, and we were able to see them with the naked eye. it was absolutely beautiful. if you would have told me a few years ago we'd be seeing the northern lights at all in arkansas, not to mention with the naked eye, i'd have called you crazy, but here we are lol. i have some pics of the event on my fediverse profile:
https://neighborli.xyz/@rav3ndust/115534646511726450
the cool part was just a day after those pics were taken, we also had a meteor shower going on. was an amazing week to see shows in the night sky.