Strong solar storm could disrupt communications and produce northern lights in US

This image provided by NASA shows a solar flare, as seen in the bright flash in the lower right, captured by NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory on May 9, 2024. A severe geomagnetic storm watch has been issued for Earth starting Friday and lasting all weekend _ the first in nearly 20 years. –

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare geometric storm watch — the first in nearly 20 years. The watch starts Friday and lasts all weekend.NOAA said the sun produced strong solar flares beginning Wednesday, resulting in five outbursts of plasma capable of disrupting satellites in orbit and power grids here on Earth. Each eruption — known as a coronal mass ejection — can contain billions of tons of solar plasma.

NOAA is calling this an unusual event, pointing out that the flares seem to be associated with a sunspot that’s 16 times the diameter of Earth. An extreme geomagnetic storm in 2003 took out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa. The latest storm could produce northern lights as far south in the U.S. as Alabama and Northern California, according to NOAA.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Why on Earth do we celebrate Earth Day?Earth day is coming up on Monday but do you know what Earth Day actually is. Or why we celebrate?
Source: fox43 - 🏆 564. / 51 Read more »

Celebrating Earth Day: The first satellite images of the earth were taken 64 years agoTIROS 1 was the first weather satellite, launched in 1960
Source: ksatnews - 🏆 442. / 53 Read more »

Strong storms may bring flooding, strong winds to the South this weekendThere is a threat of heavy downpours that may bring flash flooding in Texas.
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »

Impact: Strong Winds & Few Strong Storms, Heavy Rain TonightWinds may gust greater than 40 miles per hour tonight as periods of heavy rain cross the Valley. There may be isolated, embedded strong to severe thunderstorms as well.
Source: WGAL - 🏆 331. / 59 Read more »

Sun Fires 'Solar Storm Train' at Earth—Three Direct Hits for WeekendFive coronal mass ejections have been released from the sun in a short period of time, three of which are due to hit the Earth and cause geomagnetic storms.
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »

What Would Happen If a Massive Solar Storm Hit Earth?A severe solar storm hasn’t hit Earth since the mid-19th century, but space weather scientists are very worried about the next one.
Source: Gizmodo - 🏆 556. / 51 Read more »