Solar storm could bring northern lights to Southern Canada

Benjamin Shingler · CBC News

· Posted: May 10, 2024 1:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

A bid of powerful star storms could make nan bluish lights visible unusually acold southbound Friday and Saturday nighttime successful Canada.

Scientists opportunity this could create a geomagnetic large wind that will lead to colourful auroras overnight successful Southern Canada, nan bluish United States and parts of Europe. 

It could besides origin immoderate disruptions to communications complete nan weekend.

Here's a person look.

Why is this happening?

The sun goes done an 11-year cycle, pinch a minimum and a maximum of activity. During nan star maximum — which we are successful now — much sunspots tin beryllium seen crossed nan sun's surface. These sunspots are cooler regions that look achromatic erstwhile seen done star telescopes. But they're much than conscionable a small achromatic spot connected nan sun: these regions are an entanglement of magnetic fields that tin sometimes erupt pinch a star flare. 

Very often, they are followed by what's known arsenic a coronal wide ejection (CME), a immense burst of charged particles that are carried on nan star wind.

In this case, nan sun produced a bid of CMEs beginning Wednesday, and they are headed toward Earth, said nan U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

"It's exciting," said Ian Cohen, lawman main intelligence for Space Exploration astatine Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab. "What makes this really unsocial is that we've had multiple, arsenic galore arsenic five, complete nan past mates days that person each subsequently been directed astatine Earth."

Where tin I spot nan bluish lights?

If Earth is successful nan way of these charged particles, arsenic it is successful this case, nan particles tin interact pinch our ain magnetic section and past pinch molecules successful nan precocious atmosphere, which past gives america nan bluish lights, aliases aurora borealis. 

That means, pinch a clear sky, nan bluish lights could beryllium visible crossed overmuch of Canada connected Friday night, and possibly Saturday nighttime arsenic well. 

The latest large wind could nutrient bluish lights arsenic acold southbound successful nan U.S. arsenic Alabama and Northern California, according to NOAA.

"As these coronal wide ejections hit, those bluish lights tin really creep down to little and little latitudes," Cohen said. 

"It's not thing anyone needs to beryllium concerned about, but it is simply a bully reminder and parameter that we do person this relationship to nan sun."

What are nan risks?

The star flares led NOAA to rumor a G4 geomagnetic large wind watch for nan first clip successful astir 20 years. A G4 large wind is nan second-strongest level of storm, and could perchance disrupt powerfulness grids, satellites and communications.

The watch starts Friday and is expected to past each weekend. An utmost geomagnetic large wind successful 2003 took retired powerfulness successful Sweden and damaged powerfulness transformers successful South Africa. 

Another star storm caused blackouts successful Quebec successful 1989. NOAA said it will only beryllium clear later this evening whether location is immoderate specified consequence successful this case.

The astir aggravated star large wind successful recorded history, successful 1859, prompted auroras successful cardinal America and perchance moreover Hawaii. 

NOAA abstraction upwind forecaster Shawn Dahl said that was an "extreme-level event" that is not anticipated successful this case, but he said it could travel close.

Cohen said authorities, arsenic good arsenic outer and energy operators, way these events and return nan basal precautions. 

"They tin mitigate nan effects, but astir of nan clip thing happens," he said.

Kyle Reiter, abstraction upwind forecaster astatine Natural Resources Canada, said successful Canada these "impacts are things that we actively monitor, and location are things that we relationship for successful our operations of aviation, powerfulness transmission networks, et cetera."

"Those users are actively monitoring circumstances. They person contingency plans and they're alert of nan situation."