Geomagnetic storm paints US skies with rare northern lights
A powerful geomagnetic storm has illuminated skies across the United States, with dazzling displays of red, purple, and green northern lights visible as far south as Florida, Alabama, Ohio, and Texas.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, the surge of energized solar particles striking Earth’s atmosphere is strong enough to cause minor radio disruptions, News.Az reports, citing NBC News.
Forecasters said the storm could intensify further as the “final and most energetic coronal mass ejection (CME)” — a massive burst of protons, electrons, and magnetic fields from the Sun’s outer atmosphere — is expected to reach Earth on Wednesday afternoon.
When a CME collides with Earth’s magnetosphere, it interacts with atmospheric particles, creating the colorful phenomenon known as the aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and aurora australis in the southern hemisphere.
Shawn Dahl, a forecaster at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, said two CMEs had already reached Earth, resulting in a geomagnetic storm which reached G4 — the second-highest rating on a five-step scale.
The overall strength of the magnetic field from the passing CMEs was "not only eight times stronger than what’s normal but is also favorable at the moment for continued activity,” Dahl said in a video posted on X.
Forecasters warned the magnetic storm could cause power fluctuations, GPS degradation and intermittent disruptions to radios.
“Watches at this level are very rare,” the Space Weather Prediction Center said in an advisory.
“We believe that the ‘heart’ of the current CME — the magnetic cloud — is passing over the Earth and will continue to do so through the overnight hours,” the agency said early Wednesday.
With the third, stronger CME expected to reach the Earth on Wednesday, an aurora could be visible even further south.
While the second-highest level advisory was still in effect for another few hours, Dahl said it was possible this could reach G5, the highest rating.
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