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Weather Watchers

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usonian

(10,098 posts)
Thu May 9, 2024, 11:52 PM May 9

Northern lights this weekend? Auroras could be visible as far south as Alabama. [View all]

Even space is stormy.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2024/05/09/northern-lights-forecast-auroras-possible-this-weekend/73629276007/

Skywatchers get ready: Thanks to heightened solar activity, the aurora borealis could be coming to the skies above a large portion of the United States this weekend, space weather forecasters said Thursday.

Federal forecasters from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said that during previous solar activity of this magnitude, the "aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California." Experts say the aurora might be visible Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights.

The spectacle would be courtesy of a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun, which are forecast to reach the Earth early this weekend and produce the geomagnetic storms that trigger auroras. A G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for Saturday May 11, NOAA said.

...

The best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight (between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. local time). These hours expand towards evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases.
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