NOAA WARNING: “Severe Geomagnetic Storm” Forecast to Hit Earth as Early as Today – Power Grid Blackouts, Internet Outages, and Supercharged Northern Lights Possible
Credit; Earth.com
A G4 severe geomagnetic storm is forecast to impact Earth later today, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This marks the first time in nearly two decades that officials have warned such an event could occur.
NOAA decided to issue a watch for the storm after forecasters observed multiple earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CME’s) earlier this week.
The agency notes these earth-directed coronal mass ejections could arrive as early as midday Friday, May 10, 2024, and persist through Sunday, May 12, 2024, in what they call an “unusual event.”
Credit: NOAA.gov
As the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) notes, CME’s are “large expulsions of plasma and magnetized particles from the Sun’s corona.” They can explode in size as they approach the Earth’s surface and cause geomagnetic storms upon arrival.
