A severe solar storm is painting northern lights across the sky as far south as Florida
A powerful burst of energy from the sun is streaking past Earth, disturbing energetic particles in the highest levels of the atmosphere and painting stunning auroral displays across the night sky from Texas, Alabama, Georgia and even as far north as Florida.
Various bursts of energy from the Sun, known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, are expected to reach Earth’s magnetic field over the next two nights. The Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G4 “severe” geomagnetic storm watch for Tuesday and Wednesday. G4 is the second strongest level on the five-step scale.
The photo shows an aurora over Nelson County, Virginia, on Tuesday night. -Tommy Stafford
The photo shows an aurora over Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Tuesday night. -Matthew Dux
What does G4 storm mean?
Geomagnetic storms occur when the solar wind passes through the Earth’s magnetosphere. Charged particles from the sun interact with gases in Earth’s atmosphere, causing the striking northern lights, or bright curtains of green, red and purple light that ripple across the sky.
It’s not all about beauty and wonder; The G4 storm brings the potential for voltage control problems in power systems, GPS navigation errors, and intermittent problems in radio and satellite operations.
The photo shows an aurora over Ankeny, Iowa, on Tuesday night. -Matt Beatty
This latest round of solar flares includes several CMEs from an active sunspot cluster. The storm may ease slightly by Wednesday but remain high until mid-week, and there may also be a chance to see the northern lights further south than usual.
For most people, the impacts will be limited to breathtaking skies, not power outages. But it’s a good reminder that no matter how far we’ve come as a society, the sun still calls the shots.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at: CNN.com
