A severe solar storm could produce a visible show from Alabama to Northern California
Published by RawNews1st
As of Monday, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center says that the geomagnetic storm directed toward Earth could reach G4 status.
A G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for the 20 January UTC-day due to Earth-arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME). The CME blasted from the Sun on 18 Jan, in association with an energetic R3 (Strong) solar flare from a sunspot region near center-disk, and is anticipated to arrive at Earth as early as late 19 Jan EST to early 20 Jan.
A geomagnetic storm is what results from a coronal mass ejection (aka. solar flare) interacting with Earth’s magnetic field. The stronger that interaction, the higher ‘G’ status/stronger geomagnetic storm and the farther south the aurora could be seen
Rice tells us, “The magnetometer image showing a clear halo from the CME gives some confidence that we’ll see something.”
He cautions, however, that we emphasize potential rather than guarantee. You think weather forecasting on Earth is hard? Try predicting space weather!
Based on previous experience, however, a G4 storm usually leads to the aurora being seen in North Carolina.
