Solar Storm To Strike Earth Sunday As Northern Lights To Dazzle Night Sky 

A large solar flare triggered a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that is expected to hit the Earth’s magnetic field Sunday evening and into the early morning hours of Monday. 

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issued a “G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm watch” after a CME ejected from the Sun towards Earth on early Friday. The space weather event could produce geomagnetic storms impacting the 55th parallel north region. Countries affected include parts of Germany, Denmark, Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the US (Alaska), Canada, Ireland, and the UK. 

Areas on the 55th parallel north may experience communication disruptions, power grid fluctuations, and, of course, auroras could light up the night sky. Auroras could be visible as low as the US’s Upper Midwest and Northeast. 

Space weather observer SolarHam first detected the “moderate solar flare measuring M2.2” on Friday “around AR 2964 in the southwest quadrant” of the Sun. They said this is “the 9th strongest flare of Solar Cycle 25 in terms of peak X-Ray flux.” 

Beyond today’s geomagnetic storm threat, Sunspot Cycle 25 has already begun and is expected to be an active one could be terrible news for the digital economy as disruptions sparked by solar flares create economic damage.

Last month, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink lost 40 satellites after a geomagnetic storm knocked them out of orbit.