It's Not Just Hurricanes

11 Tishrei 5785

Going from Earth Weather to Space Weather, the aurora borealis is not just a beautiful atmospheric display.  It is indicative of a geomagnetic storm.  In the aftermath of Category 4 Hurricane Milton's landfall, the United States saw the results of a G4 geomagnetic storm.  Don't know why the NBC Nightly News broadcast chose to include their report on it in their segment for "Good News."

The Not-So-Good News

See Jaw-Dropping Northern Lights Across Planet On Historic Night

Red and green Northern Lights have been seen across the U.S. and the world from regions that rarely see displays after one of the most powerful geomagnetic storms in the last twenty years.

...Every U.S. state save for Hawaii glimpsed an aurora borealis display overnight on Thursday, Oct.11, through Friday, Oct. 12, while all of Europe — as far south as Turkey — and China also witnessed the event.

...A G4 (Severe) and possibly even more potent geomagnetic storm occurred after a particularly fast-moving coronal mass ejection — a cloud of charged particles from the sun — erupted from the sun on Oct. 8 in the wake of the strongest solar flare in the current solar cycle.

That CME moved at 2.5 million miles per hour, according to NOAA. “It’s the fastest CME we have measured in this solar cycle thus far,” said Shawn Dahl, Service Co-ordinator at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, in a press briefing on Wednesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a forecast for a G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm for both Thursday and Friday, though the latest prediction is for the aurora to be visible at low latitudes only in the early hours of Friday, Oct. 11.

That proved correct, with displays of aurora — including vast red pillars — waxing and waning throughout the night, varying in intensity and occasionally reaching severe storm conditions.

The CME struck Earth at 11:17 a.m. EDT (1517 GMT), disrupting the Earth's magnetic field and quickly achieving G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm conditions at 12:57 p.m. EDT (1657 GMT), according to NOAA.

NOAA warned on Oct. 10 that the upcoming severe geomagnetic storm conditions disrupt satellite communications, power grids and GPS services, possibly affecting ongoing recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

...During the night it reached Kp 9 — the highest there is — which NOAA defines as aurora moving towards the equator to become very bright and active.

...Geomagnetic activity is at its strongest for 20 years because the sun is close to a particularly intense "solar maximum" — the peak of its 11 year solar cycle — and also close to the equinox, when Earth’s axis is tilted side-on to the sun.

...More frequent and powerful geomagnetic storms, leading to intense and widely observable Northern Lights, are expected to continue through 2026.

HEADS UP - COMET TONIGHT!!!