A “severe” geomagnetic storm could hit Earth on Friday evening, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Thursday.
The agency forecasters observed that such a storm could impact electrical power grids, communications, navigation, radio and satellite operations, NOAA said. This oncoming storm stands as the second highest form of geomagnetic storms. The category above “severe” is “extreme.”
NOAA has notified the operators of those vulnerable systems “so they can take protective action.” The NOAA also posited that such a severe storm may potentially trigger an aurora that could “be seen from as far south as Alabama and Northern California,” the press release says. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Blatant Violations’: Watchdog Challenges Key Data Used By Biden Admin To Push Sweeping Climate Agenda)
Geomagnetic storms emerge when solar flares and discharges of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona are directed toward earth, the NOAA said.
“[Solar flares] are when the sun brightens, and we see the radiation, and that’s kind of the muzzle flash,” Professor Peter Becker of George Mason University told Fox Weather. “And then the cannon shot is the coronal mass ejection (CME). So, we can see the flash, but then the coronal mass ejection can go off in some random direction in space, but we can tell when they’re actually going to head towards Earth. And that gives us about 18 hours of warning, maybe 24 hours of warning, before those particles actually get to Earth and start messing with Earth’s magnetic field.”
This is the first time since 2005 that a severe geomagnetic storm is projected to hit the earth, NOAA tweeted alongside a photo of the sun.
Large sunspot groups and strong solar flares led to the issuance of SWPC’s first G4 Watch since 2005… pic.twitter.com/oi55cTPXhP
— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) May 9, 2024
NOAA was founded as a merger of much older governmental agencies, one of which dated back to 1807, in 1970 under President Richard Nixon.