NOAA ISSUES WATCH

NOAA has issued a watch for 'Severe Geomagnetic Storms,' only the 2nd watch in 20 years! The last watch was issued for a storm in May of this year, ranking 5 out of 5, bringing northern lights all over the US. It caused issues for plane routes and some GPS systems either stopped working or were off by feet.

We've been seeing stories about the Northern Lights sightings for the last few weeks, but this may be one of the biggest events we've had.

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WHAT'S HAPPENING OUT THERE?

What's happening right now is the second geomagnetic storm this week, and it's expected to hit Earth today. Wednesday morning, NOAA issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Thursday and Friday of this week. The sun emitted a solar flare for several hours on Tuesday evening, which received the highest classification for strong flares at X1.8. While that was happening, a coronal mass ejection also exploded from the center of the sun and was aimed directly towards Earth.

EJECTION HEADED DIRECTLY TOWARD EARTH

This mass ejection is headed our way at speeds of 2.5 million miles an hour; the fastest ejection towards our planet since 2017. Once it hits, we should be able to see northern lights after the skies are clear.


If we have clear skies we should have another great chance to see northern lights overnight, Thursday into Friday morning.

GEOMAGNETIC STORM RANKED 4 OUT OF 5

On the NOAA website, they stated that a severe storm of this level, which ranks 4 out of 5, could cause widespread voltage control issues, and spacecraft could also experience problems. Satellite navigation could be upset for hours, and radio navigation could also be affected.

When storms don't rank this high, it's my understanding that we don't always feel the effects mentioned above.

WILL WE SEE NORTHERN LIGHTS?

In the end, they say we really won't know more, until the ejection reaches the satellites that are about a million miles away. At that point, scientists will analyze it and be able to gauge the intensity of the geomagnetic storm. NOAA believes that it is highly likely the coronal mass ejection will reach our planet, but say, 'intensity is always the question at hand.'

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