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A Severe Geomagnetic Storm Could Impact California This Weekend
A composite image created Friday, May 10, shows significant solar activity on the sun.
(
Courtesy NOAA
)
A severe geomagnetic storm watch has been issued by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, and will likely remain in place through the weekend after an especially active region of the sun began blasting blobs of plasma directly toward Earth over the past few days.
This is the first time in 19 years that the SWPC has issued a geomagnetic storm watch for an event of this intensity.
Why it matters
A G4 (severe) storm can negatively impact energy infrastructure and systems that rely on satellites, including GPS. If they're big enough, they can also threaten astronauts on the International Space Station, making them more susceptible to space radiation. Though, that's not likely with this event.
“Do not worry. The sun’s been doing this for a very long time. There are impacts to different sectors of society, but we keep those sectors up to date," said Rob Steenburgh, space scientist with NOAA's SWPC.
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What it means for Northern Lights
On the upside, the storms can also produce amazing aurora, which could be seen as far south as Northern California.
This is the biggest coronal mass ejection observed this solar cycle, which lasts 11 years. As the cycles approach their peak, solar activity tends to increase in intensity and frequency. A similar event occurred in March of last year.
This storm could result in aurora being visible as far south as Northern California.
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Courtesy of NOAA
)
As the active region of the Sun rotates away from Earth, we probably won't see as many direct hits.
There are two satellites located about a million miles from Earth that monitor the ejections of plasma, and let scientists calculate what sort of geomagnetic impact they're going to have. If the conditions increase in severity, the SWPC will issue warnings and alerts that'll last for hours, unlike the watch, which lasts for days.
No impacts were expected in L.A. as of Friday.
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"Generally to get to Southern California, we'd have to have a pretty good whopper of a storm," said Steenburgh. "Don't rule out the chance to surprise you."
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