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Strong geomagnetic storm underway with dazzling Northern Lights possible in these states Thursday
BOULDER, Colo. – An ongoing strong geomagnetic storm from the Sun created displays of Northern Lights across parts of the U.s. overnight into Thursday.
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said strong (G3) geomagnetic storm levels were reached early Thursday based on NOAA's five-level scale. The solar storm is happening in response to influences from a negative-polarity coronal hole high-speed stream (CH HSS).
A coronal hole appears like a dark void in the Sun because these areas contain cooler, less dense plasma. This allows the material to stream out at faster speeds and sometimes send impacts to Earth, which is what is happening this week.
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NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory images of the Sun show a large coronal hole on the Sun.
These influences from the Sun create dazzling displays of Northern Lights as particles interact with Earth's atmosphere. Overnight into Thursday, skygazers in Alaska, Canada and parts of the northern U.S., including Michigan, were treated to a colorful show.
As these influences from the CH HSS continue, the SWPC has issued a Level-3-out-of-5 Geomagnetic Storm Warning through Thursday.
While the peak intensity of the aurora lights occurred between midnight and 3 a.m. ET on Thursday, there is still some opportunity for the Northern Lights on Thursday night and early Friday. Moderate geomagnetic storming is forecast to continue on Friday.
Under these conditions, aurora lights could be visible across the northern tier and Upper Midwest through early Friday morning in places such as Michigan and Maine.
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While the public does not need to be concerned about these space weather impacts, CH HSS and the more common coronal mass ejections (CME) from the Sun can negatively affect satellites in low-Earth orbit and the power grid. This week's conditions are expected to cause minor power grid fluctuations and a slight risk to satellite operations. Intermittent GPS degradation is also possible, according to the article source: Strong geomagnetic storm underway with dazzling Northern Lights possible in these states Thursday
