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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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A severe geomagnetic storm which has made sightings of the Northern lights possible in places that rarely witness it has also prompted power warnings, as officials fear it could wreak havoc on mobile phone networks, GPS satellites and power grids.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center wrote that the conditions for extreme (G5) geomagnetic activity had been observed on Friday night, warning that the storm could impact HF/VHF/UHF communications, GPS, power grids, spacecraft, satellite navigation, and other technologies.
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There are different levels of strength for geomagnetic storms. On a scale from G1 to G5, the one reported on Friday night was severe. Critical infrastructure operators were notified of the possible impact of the geomagnetic storm, the center said.
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"Widespread voltage control problems and protective system problems can occur," the NOAA said about G5 storms. "Some grid systems may experience complete collapse or blackouts. Transformers may experience damage."
The last geomagnetic storm of such strength occurred more than 20 years ago, during Halloween of 2003, according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. That event caused power outages in Sweden and damaged transformers in South Africa, the center wrote.
A geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of Earth's magnetic field caused by solar activity. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, this type of storm results from variations in solar wind (when the sun ejects particles from its corona, or upper atmosphere) that produce major changes in the currents, plasmas and fields in the Earth's magnetosphere.
While a major storm like the one observed on Friday night can cause disruptions to our energy infrastructure, it also creates one of the most beautiful natural phenomena observable on our planet: the Northern lights, or aurora borealis.
These dancing ribbons of green and purple lights are the product of energized particles from the sun hitting the Earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph. As our planet's magnetic fields redirect the particles toward the poles, the Northern lights appear in our skies.
The geomagnetic storm on Friday night was so strong that the Northern lights appeared in places where they'd rarely be visible, as they're traditionally more likely to pop up in the sky near the poles. Social media users shared photos of the dancing lights in states from Ohio to Florida.
"Just had an intense burst over Chester, SC," wrote a user from South Carolina on X, formerly known as Twitter. "It looked like green flames by the naked eye!"
"I never expected to see the northern lights in my own Ohio backyard," wrote another. "This is a dream come true."
"Unbelievable! I never would've thought I'd see it... the aurora in South Florida!!! Better pics coming eventually, this was a quick iPhone shot," wrote another stunned user, sharing pictures of the Northern lights in the Sunshine State.
The impact of the heightened solar activity is expected to continue through Sunday, May 12, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.
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