The Strongest Solar Storm in Six Years Was Responsible for Auroras Across US
The United States had breathtaking auroras as a result of the greatest solar storm to hit Earth in six years, with powerful light shows seen as far south as Alabama and northern California. Yet none anticipated it.
According to Live Science’s sister site Space.com, a “stealth” coronal mass ejection (CME), or a massive, swiftly moving blob of plasma and magnetic field expelled from the sun, was the cause of the solar storm on March 24. (opens in new tab). The coronal hole that produced the CME had a diameter of 20 Earths and was ejecting solar winds at a rate of about 1.3 million mph (2.1 million km/h).
A U.S. space weather forecaster named Tamitha Skov told Space.com that the G4 storm went unnoticed because it was “almost undetectable.” She said that because these stealth storms develop far more slowly than regular CME eruptions, they are more challenging to see.
Early on March 24, the clump of particles slammed into Earth’s atmosphere, squeezing the planet’s magnetic field and setting off a geomagnetic storm. On the five-level scale used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it was categorized as a G4, or “severe” storm. A G4 storm’s effects include radio blackouts that last for many hours and navigational difficulties.
Moreover, storms have the ability to move auroras to considerably lower latitudes than typical. Due to Earth’s magnetic field’s ability to redirect electrons in solar wind toward the poles, auroras, also known as the Northern Lights, often only visible at high latitudes close to the North and South Poles. Nevertheless, more charged particles smash with gases in the upper atmosphere during solar storms, which causes them to appear closer to the equator.
It applied to the stealth storm from last night.
According to a report on SpaceWeather.com, “forecasters absolutely missed this one.” The most violent geomagnetic storm in over 6 years caused auroras to reach across the United States as far south as Colorado and New Mexico.
Onlookers posted videos and pictures of the phenomenon, while photographer Dakota Snider published pictures of pink aurora from a trip between Los Angeles and Phoenix.
Snider acknowledged that this was his first experience with auroras in a comment on social media to Live Science. Snider, a skilled photographer, keeps a keen eye on the weather and unusual incidents.
“Before we took off, I considered how I may be able to see them from the air, but even if it were feasible, it would be a very long shot. After we reached our altitude, you could see a dim glow, and I initially believed it to be the lights.” stated Snider.
Except for the flight attendants, who were quite excited to witness such a rare event this far south, everyone on the plane was asleep.
Graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and astrophotographer Vincent Ledvina also shared video of the show. He said on Twitter, “Witnessed literally the most incredible aurora of my life tonight in Fairbanks”. This was unbelievable.
In general, auroras may be observed farther from the poles the stronger the geomagnetic storm. A solar outburst in 1859 reportedly produced auroras as far south as Cuba, according to NASA’s Fermilab. The so-called Carrington Event is regarded as the greatest geomagnetic storm in history.
