Americans living in the tri-state area may have a chance to see the northern lights later tonight. According to USA Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center has issued an alert for a G3 geomagnetic storm for today, June 4, and Friday, June 5.
A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere, typically caused by solar wind shock waves and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun interacting with our planet’s magnetic field. These are the storms that cause auroras, or the northern lights. While typically regulated towards the poles or other northernmost areas, a G3 storm causes the northern lights to move further down from the poles and become brighter and more active.
Issues that generally stem from a G3 storm include voltage corrections for power systems, false alarms triggered on certain devices, problems with satellite navigation, and low-frequency radio.
According to the NOAA, the CMEs are projected to arrive sometime in the mid-afternoon of June 4 and would continue well into the evening, through the early hours of June 5.
Northernmost states in the United States are projected to have a high likelihood of seeing the northern lights alongside some states midwest to Oregon. These states are not limited to New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and more. States higher up and locations with clear skies and low light pollution are generally the best for viewing.
