A powerful geomagnetic storm could trigger a massive Northern Lights display this week, making the incredible show visible in the Chicago area.
Area residents will have another chance of seeing the Northern Lights tonight and tomorrow after a powerful solar flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) erupted from the sun early Tuesday morning, according to the NBC 5 Storm Team.
The X5.1 class solar flare erupted around 4 a.m. Central time and is the strongest of the current solar cycle. The flare was so strong it even caused radio blackouts in Europe and Africa.
The sun has also released a few other CMEs over the past few days. This latest CME is stronger and moving much faster, so it’s possible it merges with the older CMEs to create a powerful geomagnetic storm Tuesday night and again on Wednesday.
Solar flares erupt and reach Earth within minutes, but Coronal Mass Ejections that often accompany them can take 1-to-3 days.
The latest forecast from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center shows a spike in geomagnetic activity around 9pm-midnight Tuesday, but an ever bigger peak around 9am-noon on November 12th when the stronger CME is expected to reach Earth.
Northern Lights forecasts are challenging, and it’s common for the times to shift all the way up to the event.
Clouds are on the way out so it’s worth a shot to look up Tuesday. Even if the peak of the activity is during daylight hours tomorrow, we’ll still have the chance to see something tonight and again tomorrow night.
According to the SWPC, coronal mass ejections like the one impacting Earth on Sunday carry charged atoms known as “ions.” When those ions collide with Earth’s magnetosphere, they release energy in the form of light, causing the phenomenon known as the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis.
Those lights tend to occur in different colors, including red, pink and green, and are generally only visible at higher latitudes. Stronger geomagnetic storms can push that display further south, with a G4-classified storm potentially visible across most of the continental United States.
In addition to the Northern Lights, geomagnetic storms can also have impacts on power grids, communication networks and GPS systems, but most companies and utilities are able to activate safeguards in such events to minimize disruptions.
For the most up-to-date information on the storm, residents can visit the SWPC’s website or Facebook feed.
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