Current:Home > FinanceStrong solar storm could disrupt communications and produce northern lights in US -×
Strong solar storm could disrupt communications and produce northern lights in US
View
Date:2025-04-12 11:29:43
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An unusually strong solar storm headed toward Earth could produce northern lights in the U.S. and potentially disrupt communications this weekend.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare geomagnetic storm watch — the first in nearly 20 years. The watch starts Friday and lasts all weekend.
NOAA said the sun produced strong solar flares beginning Wednesday, resulting in five outbursts of plasma capable of disrupting satellites in orbit and power grids here on Earth. Each eruption — known as a coronal mass ejection — can contain billions of tons of solar plasma.
NOAA is calling this an unusual event, pointing out that the flares seem to be associated with a sunspot that’s 16 times the diameter of Earth. An extreme geomagnetic storm in 2003 took out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.
The latest storm could produce northern lights as far south in the U.S. as Alabama and Northern California, according to NOAA.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
veryGood! (32)
Related
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- Russia’s envoy uses the stage at a military forum in China to accuse the US of fueling tensions
- The Nightmare Before Christmas Turns 30
- Maine gunman Robert Card found dead after 2-day manhunt, officials say
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- St. Louis County prosecutor drops U.S. Senate bid, will instead oppose Cori Bush in House race
- Derrick Henry trade landing spots: Ravens, Browns among top options if Titans move RB
- SoCal's beautiful coast has a hidden secret: The 'barrens' of climate change
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Israel opens new phase in war against Hamas, Netanyahu says, as Gaza ground operation expands
Ranking
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- FIFA bans Spain's Luis Rubiales for 3 years for unwanted kiss at World Cup
- Police in Texas could arrest migrants under a bill that is moving closer to approval by the governor
- Matthew Perry's family, Adele, Shannen Doherty pay tribute to 'Friends' star: 'Heartbroken'
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Mia Fishel, Jaedyn Shaw score first U.S. goals as USWNT tops Colombia in friendly
- The war with Hamas pushed many Israeli dual citizens to leave the country. Here are stories of some who stayed.
- Two dead, 18 injured in Ybor City, Florida, shooting
Recommendation
Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
A cosplay model claims she stabbed her fiancé in self-defense; prosecutors say security cameras prove otherwise
FIFA bans Luis Rubiales of Spain for 3 years for kiss and misconduct at Women’s World Cup final
FIFA bans Spain's Luis Rubiales for 3 years for unwanted kiss at World Cup
South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
Everything to know about the 'devil comet' expected to pass by Earth in the summer
Robert Brustein, theater critic and pioneer who founded stage programs for Yale and Harvard, dies
Fantasy football risers, fallers: Jahan Dotson shows off sleeper potential