An unusually strong solar storm hitting Earth could produce northern lights in the U.S. this weekend and potentially disrupt power and communications. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm warning when a solar outburst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours sooner than anticipated. The effects were due to last through the weekend and possibly into next week.
NOAA alerted operators of power plants and spacecraft in orbit to take precautions, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The storm could produce northern lights as far south in the U.S. as Alabama and Northern California, according to NOAA. Experts stressed that the auroras may not be as dramatic as the usual curtains of color but more like splashes of greenish hues.
The best aurora views may come from phone cameras, which are better at capturing light than the naked eye. The most intense solar storm in recorded history, in 1859, prompted auroras in central America and possibly even Hawaii. This storm, ranked 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, poses a risk for high-voltage transmission lines for power grids and could affect satellites, disrupting navigation and communication services on Earth.
Signals between GPS satellites and ground receivers could be scrambled or lost, but any outages should not last long due to the abundance of navigation satellites. The sun has been producing strong solar flares since Wednesday, resulting in at least seven outbursts of plasma. NASA stated that the storm posed no serious threat to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, with the biggest concern being increased radiation levels.
Increased radiation could also threaten some of NASA's science satellites, and sensitive instruments will be turned off if necessary to avoid damage. Several sun-focused spacecraft are monitoring the solar activity closely. This solar storm is part of the sun's ramping up of activity as it approaches the peak of its 11-year cycle.
