Back-to-back solar flares, including one on the Fourth of July, will create solar weather storms resulting in brighter auroras and potential power grid fluctuations.
While your neighbors were preparing to put on a fireworks show Tuesday evening, the sun was ejecting a powerful burst of energy, putting on its own show.
The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, said a coronal mass ejection or CME was observed by a NASA satellite on July 4.
The Independence Day solar activity prompted the SWPC to issue a Geomagnetic Storm Watch. The Prediction Center is forecasting the solar flare to reach Earth’s atmosphere by late Thursday or early Friday.
This storm is a minor G1-level rated storm on NOAA’s 5-level scale to rate the potential impacts of any geomagnetic activity headed toward Earth. There is potential for some G2 impacts. For a storm of this level, some weak power grid fluctuations can occur.
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For most people, a Geomagnetic Storm Watch is not something to be concerned about. The watches help government agencies, power providers, telecommunication companies and satellite operators prepare to protect systems that are impacted by space weather. The flares are also given a letter and number rating, X being the most intense flare.
This is the second solar flare eruption in a week requiring a Geomagnetic Storm Watch.
On Sunday, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded an X1.0 solar flare.
Space Weather Physicist Tamitha Shov said on Twitter the July Fourth flare is moving faster and will catch up with Sunday’s flare creating a “1 2 punch.”
Shov said NASA models show the flare could produce auroras at mid-latitudes.
According to the SWPC Aurora Forecast, some auroras could appear Thursday in the Northern Tier.
The Sun is in the midst of an active period in its solar cycle, which lasts 11 years.
NOAA satellites are constantly monitoring the sun for activity which helps the Space Weather Prediction Center issue forecasts. All newer NOAA GOES satellites use an instrument called the Solar Ultraviolet Imager or SUVI to record the sun in ultraviolet wavelengths.
Recently, Space Weather Prediction Center scientist Mark Miesch put together a timelapse showing the Sun’s increasing activity.
“Although the Sun is no more active than in previous generations, our society has changed. With our increasing reliance on electric power, global telecommunications, satellite navigation and aviation, we are more sensitive than ever to the Sun’s changing moods,” Miesch said in a statement. “Stay tuned for more fireworks as we approach yet another solar maximum in 2024.”
The increasing activity started in December 2019, with the most recent severe G4 geomagnetic storm in April.