The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has bumped up this weekend's geomagnetic storm watch to a level G4, the second highest on the scale. The change comes as solar activity continues at high levels and at least four coronal mass ejections (CMEs) propel toward Earth.
According to the NOAA's SWPC, to have a watch at this level is rare, but it is indeed issued when there's a high likelihood that several CMEs will reach Earth and create "highly elevated" geomagnetic activity. As we've reported lately, it's been pretty busy in space within the last week. But most recently, numerous high-level solar flares and their associated CMEs from several sunspot regions have been seen increasing, which has also upped the potential effects of this solar activity. Late Friday into Saturday, these events may not only affect space, but also Earth in terms of our satellite communication systems and, yes, whether auroras will be visible.
