Severe solar storm could disrupt communications, cause colorful auroras

A severe solar storm could disrupt communications and cause colorful auroras, reaching some southern parts of the U.S. as early as Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Wednesday. 

NOAA said a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the Sun’s corona and will reach Earth on Thursday. Its speed was estimated to be 1200 to 1300 kilometers a second. 

The CME’s eruption Tuesday has caused NOAA's Space Prediction Center to classify it as a level 4 storm, the second highest on a scale of 1 to 5. The prediction center said the storm could cause some “detrimental impacts” to infrastructure technology. It added that auroras could be visible in the northern parts of the U.S., but it could also be seen in parts of northern California and Alabama. 

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Northern lights occur as a result of the CME hitting the Earth. The visibility of northern lights in the South is correlated with the solar storm’s strength. The stronger the storm, the more visible the northern lights are in the south. 

Northern lights appeared last month in Canada and Alaska. It was visible in parts of 17 states, ranging from Montana and Michigan to New York.

Geomagnetic storms happen when subatomic particles travel through space with the solar wind and encounter the Earth’s magnetic field, according to NASA. When they occur, electrical power networks and telecommunication can be hit with power outages. NASA stated that when “serious” solar flares occur, astronauts could end up with radiation poisoning while satellites can sustain damage.