By Kenneth Chang
Occasionally, the sun unleashes massive blasts of particles into the solar system. If these solar blasts are directed towards Earth, they can create stunning auroras in the night skies across various regions of the globe. Conversely, other instances can lead to satellite damage, disrupt GPS signals, and incapacitate power grids.
On Wednesday, a federal center issued a severe storm alert for space weather after solar observation satellites detected a significant solar flare from a sunspot in the sun’s northern hemisphere, along with a particle explosion termed a coronal mass ejection.
“The worrying aspect is that it was located dead center on the sun,” stated Shawn Dahl, the service coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, during a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
If the eruption was centered on the sun, a portion of it was likely directed towards Earth. It appeared substantial enough to cause possible disruptions. This onslaught could allow Northern and Southern Lights to be seen on Thursday night, potentially reaching nearer to the equator than is typical.
This marks the second such alert—the equivalent of a hurricane watch in space weather terms—issued by the center in the last 19 years.
The initial alert, issued in May, warned the United States of an impending severe solar storm. That solar disturbance escalated to the highest category of “extreme,” but thanks to early notice, electrical companies were able to prepare, preventing widespread outages.
The charged particles from this latest incident — protons, electrons, and helium nuclei — are traveling at speeds exceeding 2.5 million mph, expected to start impacting the Earth’s magnetic field Thursday morning, Eastern Time.
Dahl mentioned that this storm is likely to be less intense than the one in May. “The distinction lies in that the one from May had multiple coronal mass ejections, with some moving faster than others,” Dahl explained. “This combined effect heightened the overall impact.”
However, the geomagnetic storm could persist for around 36 hours. If it reaches severe status, auroras in the Northern Hemisphere may be observed much deeper into the United States, possibly extending to Alabama.
Forecasts will remain largely speculative until the streams of particles are detected by two spacecraft, the NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR).
Both are approximately 1 million miles from Earth, providing a 15 to 30-minute heads-up before solar storms reach the planet. At that juncture, the watch could be escalated to a warning.
In May, the center connected with power grid operators roughly six hours prior to the storm’s onset.
This time, they reached out even sooner, as the power grid, already compromised by Hurricane Helene last month, is set to face additional strain with Hurricane Milton approaching Florida.
“Given the ongoing hurricane relief efforts and the approaching hurricane in Florida and across the peninsula, we deemed it necessary to contact them immediately,” Dahl stated. “We are unsure of the current situation, but that’s our concern.”
Neither the solar flare from May nor this week’s event is as severe as the Carrington Event, which impacted Earth in 1859, disrupting telegraph communications, or another incident in 1989 that resulted in a nine-hour blackout in Quebec.
