With many Chicago-area residents getting a fascinating display of the Northern Lights, NBC 5 Storm Team meteorologist Kevin Jeanes explains what a geomagnetic storm is and how it causes the phenomenon.
The Northern Lights may be visible over parts of the Upper Midwest later this week after a coronal mass ejection Monday night.
According to the Space Weather Projection Center, that CME is expected to begin impacting Earth on Thursday, but the main effects could be felt on Friday night when a G2 geomagnetic storm watch goes into effect.
The storm will come after a CME that occurred during a solar storm on Monday night, according to SWPC officials.
With mostly clear skies expected, the Northern Lights may be visible in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, though it isn’t expected that they’ll be visible into Illinois and Indiana, according to SWPC forecasts.
The good news for Chicago-area residents is that we remain in the “maximum phase” of the sun’s 11-year solar cycle. During that phase, the sun’s magnetic poles flip, leading to the star entering a stormy state that produces more sunspots and solar activity, increasing the number of CME’s that can potentially cause the Northern Lights to be visible on Earth, according to NASA.
A recent CME caused a G4 geomagnetic storm to impact Earth’s atmosphere, making the Northern Lights visible across much of the United States.
The Northern Lights occur when charged particles from the sun collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere, with the resulting interaction displaying a variety of colors that can be seen across parts of the Northern Hemisphere, according to Space.com.
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