Largest solar radiation storm in over 20 years hits Earth, triggers northern lights

Auroras are likely to dazzle in the skies across some parts of the US as weather forecasters predicted an upcoming "largest solar radiation storm in over 20 years." Powerful solar activity released by the sun is heading for Earth and is likely to create dazzling auroral displays in unexpected areas Monday evening and early Tuesday morning, CNN reported.

The National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center, or SWPC is tracking a solar radiation storm, ranked at a level four out of five on a severity scale. The SWPC posted on X, "An S4 severe solar radiation storm is now in progress - this is the largest solar radiation storm in over 20 years."

"The last time S4 levels were observed was in October, 2003. Potential effects are mainly limited to space launch, aviation, and satellite operations," the department wrote on social media.

Forecasters expect the storm to continue for days, cutting off high-frequency communications completely in the polar regions and posing some added health risk to passengers and crew in high-flying aircraft, The Hill reported.

The SWPC has notified airlines, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation and other operators to prepare for the storm.

“We’ve been making all these phone calls to ensure that we are keeping all the critical technological infrastructure operators in the know of what’s happening,” SWPC forecaster Shawn Dahl was quoted by CNN as saying.

As of the Monday afternoon forecast, the northern lights were expected to be visible in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, northern Utah, northern Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, northern Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, northern Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Alaska, according to the Hill.