A strong solar storm created a stunning display of light in the sky worldwide from Friday night to Saturday morning, but only caused minor disruptions to the power grid, communications, and satellite systems.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated that extreme geomagnetic storm conditions persisted on Saturday, with initial reports of power grid irregularities, degradation of high-frequency communications, and global positioning systems.
However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency indicated that no significant impact from the storms had been reported in any FEMA region so far. The U.S. Department of Energy also stated that it had no knowledge of any impact from the storms on electric customers as of Saturday.
NOAA forecasted that strong flares would continue at least until Sunday. A spokesperson mentioned via email that the agency's Space Weather Prediction Center had prepared well for the storm.
On Saturday morning, SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service website reported that its service had been degraded, and its team was investigating. CEO Elon Musk stated on the social platform X overnight that its satellites were "under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far."
Vibrant purple, green, yellow, and pink colors of the Northern Lights were observed around the world, with sightings in Germany, Switzerland, China, England, Spain, and other places.
In the U.S., Friday's solar storm pushed the lights much farther south than usual. The Miami office of the National Weather Service confirmed sightings in the areas of Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers, Florida. Meteorologist Nick Carr mentioned that another forecaster who lives near Fort Lauderdale captured photographs of the lights and was familiar with them because he had previously lived in Alaska.
People in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and other Midwestern states were able to take photos of bright colors along the horizon.
With the solar storm persisting through the weekend, Saturday night provided another opportunity for many to witness the spectacle.
NOAA issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm warning when a solar outburst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours earlier than expected.
The agency notified operators of power plants and orbiting spacecraft, as well as FEMA, to take precautions.
"For most people here on planet Earth, they won't have to do anything," said Rob Steenburgh, a scientist with NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.
"That's really the gift from space weather: the aurora," Steenburgh remarked. He and his colleagues stated that the best views may come from phone cameras, which are better at capturing light than the naked eye.
Capture a picture of the sky, and "there might be actually a nice little treat there for you," stated Mike Bettwy, operations chief for the prediction center.
The most intense solar storm in recorded history, which occurred in 1859, caused auroras in central America and possibly even Hawaii.
This storm poses a risk for high-voltage transmission lines for power grids, not the electrical lines usually found in people's homes, NOAA space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl told reporters. Satellites could also be affected, which in turn could disrupt navigation and communication services here on Earth.
In 2003, a very strong geomagnetic storm caused power failures in Sweden and harmed power transformers in South Africa.
After the storm ends, GPS signals between satellites and ground receivers might be mixed up or lost, according to NOAA. But there are so many navigation satellites that any problems should be short-lived, said Steenburgh.
Since Wednesday, the sun has produced intense solar flares, resulting in at least seven bursts of plasma. Each explosion, called a coronal mass ejection, can contain billions of tons of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's outer atmosphere, or corona.
The flares appear to be linked to a sunspot that is 16 times the diameter of Earth, according to NOAA. It is all part of the solar activity increasing as the sun approaches the peak of its 11-year cycle.
