Geomagnetic storms from solar flares supercharge northern lights

The sun's stormy weather is supercharging auroras on Earth this week, due to a series of intense geomagnetic storms triggered by recent solar flares, according to Space.com. 

Many in the Lehigh Valley as well as various areas of Pennsylvania posted photos to the Facebook page of What's going on in the Lehigh Valley in the early morning hours.

On Monday (Aug. 12), the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) detected a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm over Earth at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) that would have amplified northern lights displays across the United States if it had not occurred in the middle of the day. 

"A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen faintly as far south as Alabama and Northern California," SWPC officials said in a statement.

Northern Lights in Klecknersville, PA at approximately 2:30 am 8/12/24

Photo by: Yvonne Mitch-Bachman

By Monday afternoon, geomagnetic storm conditions had weakened to a "moderate" G2-class storm, according to the NOAA, which could make the northern lights visible from regions as far south as the upper United States, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

The Northern lights are expected to continue through at least Tuesday evening (Aug. 13), NOAA officials wrote in an update.  - Even a weaker G1-class storm sparked dazzling auroras across the U.S. and Canada in late July.

An aurora alert map for Aug. 13, 2024 from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, showing regions with good aurora chances in red and green. (Image credit: NOAA/SWPC)

The geomagnetic storms were triggered by solar particles expelled by the sun during a series of explosive coronal mass ejections that accompanied no less than five solar flares since Aug. 10. When they reach Earth, those charged solar particles are funneled over the poles by the planet's magnetic field, where they interact with the atmosphere to create glowing auroras, according to Space.com. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, this phenomenon is called the aurora borealis, or northern lights, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it's known as the aurora australis, or southern lights.

Many also saw the annual Perseid meteor shower along with the auroras.

Curious where and how to photograph auroras - check out the following:

where and how to photograph auroras.