Solar Storm Unleashed by the Sun May Cause Auroras in Parts of the United States

On Monday, the sun unleashed a mid-level solar flare, which peaked at around 2:23 EDT. Yet this flare has had further repercussions. It's helped launch a massive geomagnetic storm on Earth.

Solar flares occur when the sun unleashes powerful bursts of radiation. While harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on Earth, though, it can affect the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

In this case, the flare was classified as a M6.6 flare. M-class flares are about mid-level flares; they're about the tenth of the size of the most intense flares, known as X-class flares. The number associated with the flare corresponds to the strength of the flare within its class. For example, an M2 flare is twice as intense as an M1 and an M3 is three times as intense.

After this occurrence, researchers got word that a coronal mass ejection (CME) also erupted from the sun. In addition, a Solar Radiation storm occurred, briefly reaching S3 levels.

Things really ramped up today, June 22. The geomagnetic storm that began yesterday reached G4 levels (severe). Solar wind conditions remained highly favorable for the continued storm with both fast solar wind and strong magnetic fields.

So what does this mean for the United States? There's a high chance to see visible aurora along the northern reaches of North America. In fact, forecasters are hopeful that the geomagnetic storm will make the aurora visible tonight along the east coast.

Want to keep up to date with the space weather? You can at NOAA's Space Weather website.

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