Aurora borealis may be visible tonight in part of the United States from geomagnetic storm

WASHINGTON – A coronal mass ejection and a C4 solar flare occurred Wednesday, March 20, which could lead to an Aurora Borealis exposure here on Earth on Saturday night, March 23.

The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center released a moderate G2 geomagnetic storm watch for Saturday night.

Where could the aurora borealis be visible?
The NOAA Spatial Weather Forecasting Center predicts a Kp of 6 for the event, on a scale of 1 to 9. The higher the number, the greater the likelihood of a magnetic storm being great.

The northern lights can be clearly seen as far south as New York, Wisconsin. On the graph below, the southern extent of the aurora borealis lies roughly at the location of the yellow line.

NOAA

According to the Institute of Geophysics at the University of Alaska, auroral activity could be 'visible on the horizon from Salem, Boise, Cheyenne, Lincoln, Indianapolis and Annapolis. "

Magnetometers offer another view of the level of geomagnetic disturbance. A sudden change in the magnetometer usually indicates the beginning of a long time (0.5 hours or more) of active auroras. This is especially true before 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning.

Here's how to try and see the Aurora
The chances of seeing aurora are slim in Maryland and northern Virginia. If you want to get a glimpse, you need to get away from city lights and trees and buildings. You will want to look down from the horizon to the north. Tonight's forecast calls for a clear sky, but the moon is still about 90% full after Wednesday's full moon … which will also obscure any view possible.

WUSA Weather

What are coronal mass ejections and solar flares?

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are explosions of energy in the sun's magnetic field.

A solar flare is a smaller, localized blast that leaves energy and particles under tension and accelerates it away from the sun, and sometimes to the ground. In the strongest solar flares, radio failures can occur.

A coronal mass ejection, or CME, is a larger explosion of activated particles called plasma. Like a cannon or gun for a t-shirt during a sports match, it launches charged particles to over a million kilometers at the time in one direction. The charged particle plasma can react with oxygen and nitrogen in the Earth's outer atmosphere, creating an aurora borealis, called aurora borealis (or aurora borealis in the southern hemisphere). More powerful CMEs can also disrupt the Earth's radio waves, GPS coordinates can be diverted and even impact Earth's electrical systems if utilities are unprepared.

The most powerful solar storm in recent history took place in October 2003. The aurora borealis was visible as far south as Florida!