CNN —The northern lights could grace skies farther south than usual this week because of a solar storm that may affect Earth, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
The center issued a strong geomagnetic storm watch, known as a G3 — the third highest level out of five — for July 29 to July 31.
Strong geomagnetic storms are infrequent, the Space Weather Prediction Center said, but they’re more common than the G5, or extreme, geomagnetic storm that occurred on May 10 and May 11.
If the predicted G3 conditions occur, auroras could be visible as far south as Illinois and Oregon, the Space Weather Prediction Center said.
Alerts issued by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and other agencies help the operators of power grids and commercial satellites to mitigate potential negative impacts from a solar storm.
Persons:
Aurorasaurus
Organizations:
CNN, Oceanic, Prediction, NOAA, Met, Meteorology, NASA
Locations:
Illinois, Oregon, United Kingdom, Scotland, Australia, Southern, India, Sweden, South Africa