Northern Lights – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Krissanapong Wongsawarng
On Friday, the first of perhaps several geomagnetic storms hit the world, giving South Florida residents a unique opportunity to see the Northern Lights.
Social media images displayed the vibrant colors visible in the skies over South Florida.
The weather service for the nation Photos of the aurora shot along US 27 were shared on X by Miami meteorologist Luke Culver.
The view was breathtaking to those in other regions of Florida as well. While departing from Tampa for a trip, traveler Chase Nawrocki took a picture of the Northern Lights.
When a solar outburst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours ahead of schedule, the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a “severe geomagnetic storm” warning for the first time in almost 20 years.
Since Wednesday, the sun has been generating powerful solar flares that have caused at least seven plasma explosions. The sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, can release billions of tons of plasma and magnetic field with each eruption, which is referred to as a coronal mass ejection.
Experts stated that the flares appeared to be connected to a sunspot 16 times the diameter of Earth. All of this is a result of the sun’s activity increasing as it gets closer to the culmination of its 11-year cycle.
Extreme geomagnetic storm conditions persisted on Saturday, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Preliminary reports of power grid disruptions, deterioration of high-frequency communications, and disruptions to global positioning systems were received.
However, as of Saturday morning at noon, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, no FEMA region has reported any notable effects from the storms.
Strong flares are expected to last at least until Sunday, according to a NOAA official, who also noted in an email that the agency’s Space Weather Prediction Center was well-prepared for the storm.
On its website, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service said on Saturday morning that there had been a degradation in service and that a team was looking into it. Its satellites were “under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far,” according to a post made by CEO Elon Musk overnight on X.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.