An enormous mass of charged particles that erupted from the sun on Tuesday (Oct. 8) has slammed into Earth, triggering a "severe" G4-class geomagnetic storm.
The storm is expected to crackle through our planet's atmosphere from Thursday into Friday (Oct. 10 to 11), causing possible power grid disruptions and generating bright auroras at much lower latitudes than usual, according to an alert from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).
According to SWPC, the northern lights "may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California" on Thursday night.
The storm may also "impact ongoing recovery efforts for Hurricanes Helene and Milton" by putting extra stress on power grids weakened by the hurricanes and interfering with communications systems that depend on low-Earth orbit satellites, SWPC warned. Agency representatives have already contacted federal and state officials involved in the hurricane recovery about these possibilites.
