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| A geomagnetic storm arriving Friday evening is expected to produce vibrant northern lights, which will be visible across most of Canada and as far south as Alabama and California. |
A powerful geomagnetic storm is set to strike Earth's atmosphere on Friday evening, potentially disrupting power grids and radio communications as well as producing vibrant northern lights (Aurora Borealis) across most of Canada and as far south as Alabama and California.
According to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, several solar flares and coronal mass ejections have been occurring over the last 72 hours. That energy is set to strike the Earth as one large storm Friday evening into Saturday morning. Geomagnetic Storms are measured on a scale of G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme). The current storm is expected to be at G4 level, prompting a geomagnetic storm watch, the first to be issued in 20 years.
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| An image of the sun showing the collection of solar flares and mass ejections sending energy hurling through space towards the Earth's surface. (SWPC) |
The current timing has the energy arriving between 11PM Friday evening and 2AM Saturday morning here in southern Quebec. The charged particles (electrons) generated by the sun, mix with oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen in the Earth's atmosphere, the reaction often producing spectacular bursts of colour known as the northern lights.
The incoming storm has been described as rare by NOAA, with comparisons to a January 2005 storm and the Halloween storm of 2003 that damaged several power grids in Sweden and South Africa.
Geomagnetic storms have been known to cause disruptions to power grids, radio communications and GPS systems. A large solar storm on March 13, 1989 knocked out power to the entire province of Quebec for several hours.
Full information on solar storms can be found on the Space Weather Prediction Center website.
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