A surge in energized solar particles hurling towards the Earth is lighting up the skies as far south as Florida with dazzling displays, which meteorologists say is powerful enough to knock out a few radios.
The red, purple and green hues colored skies in Alabama, Ohio and Texas, and forecasters at the Space Weather Prediction Center have said the geomagnetic storm could intensify as the "final and most energetic CME," meaning coronal mass ejection, is yet to arrive and could reach Earth on Wednesday afternoon.
A CME is an eruption of massive clouds of protons, electrons, and magnetic fields from the Sun’s outer atmosphere at very high speeds.
When it reaches the Earth’s magnetic field, also called the magnetosphere, it collides with the particles around the planet, producing colorful light known as 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.
