Watch as the vivid aurora dances across the night sky
According to NOAA, about 20 states in the U.S. have seen the aurora borealis.
On Nov. 11, a powerful geomagnetic storm reached the atmosphere and sparked the aurora borealis, lighting up the skies over much of North America (as far south as Florida) with bright colors.
The Space Weather Prediction Center warned that the strong event could impact power grids and communications, and that some GPS signals may be disrupted on Wednesday, November 12 as the event continues. It may also mean a night when colors dance in the sky on the northern horizon.
As the sun set on November 11, social media feeds quickly filled with colorful photos.
Magnetic storms occur when coronal mass ejected from the Sun’s surface reaches the Earth’s atmosphere. The eruption that sparked the bright activity on Nov. 11 spewed out of the sun earlier in the week, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Atmospheric storm levels reached G4 (severe) levels at 8:20 p.m. ET on Nov. 11, and are expected to continue into the night, said Sean Dahl, a space weather forecaster at the center.
What is the cause of the “Aurora”
According to the prediction center, a coronal mass ejection (a jet of solar material and a strong magnetic field from the sun’s sunspots) occurred on November 9 and November 10, and a solar flare occurred on November 11.
Auroras can be seen in the south when the sun spews out particularly large coronal clumps.
When the material reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, it can cause magnetic storms. One release reached the atmosphere on November 11th.
“I still don’t believe the third CME has arrived yet,” Dahl said. The third is expected to arrive around noon on Wednesday, November 12th.
The first two were “much stronger than we expected,” Dahl said. He added that his next sending off was the strongest and most energetic of the three.
As for other effects, Dahl said people using high-precision GPS systems should be aware of potential signal degradation. “When you need an accuracy of less than an inch, the continuation of this type of activity can lead to errors much larger than that.”
Dahl said he has been in touch with the space launch industry, power grid officials and the highest levels of the White House to keep them informed of the situation.
According to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the colors seen beyond the horizon are caused by the interaction of incoming solar particles with various types of gas molecules in the atmosphere above the Earth. Interaction with oxygen produces green and red light. Nitrogen produces blue and reddish hues.
Dahl said that to cause more intense activity, the magnetic field passing through must be opposite to Earth’s magnetic field.
Photos of lights were posted from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Minnesota.
Northern lights seen in Florida and throughout the United States
Dinah Boyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, covers climate change, weather, the environment and other news. Contact dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or dinahvp.77 on X or Signal.
