CLEVELAND -- Night owls and insomniacs got a treat Sunday night when the northern lights made a rare Midwest appearance.

The Northern Lights are a sight that's usually not visible in the United States outside of Alaska.

SLIDESHOW: Northern Lights

Mike Ryan of the National Weather Service's Wilmington, Ohio, bureau said we may get another peek at them Monday night.

The clear skies, dry air and an increase in solar activity all contributed to the appearance of the lights.

Several people e-mailed NewsNet5.com from Ashland and Medina to Wakeman to say that they had seen a beautiful show in the sky last night after midnight.

"I live in Willoughby and they were at 85 degrees -- almost directly overhead. They lasted at least 20 minutes. They were the cloud, ray type," Tom Suhadolnik said.

An Eastlake woman also enjoyed the show.

"I've never seen the Northern Lights so bright and colorful. It's absolutely amazing," Karen Davis said.

The northern lights are caused by electrically charged particles emitted from the sun during periods of high sunspot activity.

Those particles interact with Earth's magnetic field -- producing the light shows.

They appeared as a shimmering curtain of greenish light in the sky.