Auroras will light the night sky in the US this weekend following a “cannibal” coronal mass ejection that hit Earth on Tuesday . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issued a geomagnetic storm warning for August 3 and August 4, although the celestial show could be visible past August. The lights were forecasted to reach farther south than is normal and may be visible in parts of the US including the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and Maine, said the SWPC.
Here is an animation of the last 24 hours of #NorthernLights forecasts for North America. Images from NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center #Space #Aurora #SWPC #NOAA pic.twitter.
com/zJEy8qOV4e — Grand Forks, ND Sky Color (@gfndskycolor) August 5, 2024 The aurora borealis dazzled in the sky over northern Michigan on Wednesday. https://t.co/5XdLcIr0vS pic.
twitter.com/PLSTXvjyVw — ABC News (@ABC) August 5, 2024 At the same time, much more intense auroral displays will be visible in northern Canada and Alaska. Scientists have forecasted more displays of the Northern Lights for the month of August, and even the months to follow, after it was discovered that there were more sunspots on the sun this July than any other time since December 2001.
According to NASA, sunspots (magnetic disturbances on the sun’s surface) have been counted every day since 1611 to determine how magnetically active the sun is. Aur.