Northern Lights still possible over VA amid rare solar storm

VIRGINIA – If you missed Friday’s light show, chances are Virginians still have a few days to see the dazzling Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, if the weather cooperates, according to space weather forecasters.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said extreme geomagnetic storm conditions continued on Saturday after the agency issued a rare warning as a solar burst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours earlier than expected.

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In the United States, people reported sightings of the Northern Lights along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Mexico, Mississippi, Florida And Texas.

NOAA said the solar storm will last at least until Sunday, offering another chance for many to catch the lights Saturday evening.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to catch a glimpse of the dazzling display in Virginia this weekend. Showers and thunderstorms are expected most of the night and into Sunday, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service.

Geomagnetic storms form when a wave of particles and plasma from the Sun temporarily displaces Earth’s magnetosphere. Geomagnetic storms are categorized on a scale from G1 to G5, with G5 being the most severe.

NOAA initially issued a warning for a severe G4 storm, but activity exceeded forecasts on Friday, according to a Washington Post report. The storm reached G5 level around 7:00 PM ET

The most intense solar storm in history occurred in 1859, causing auroras in Central America and possibly even Hawaii.

This storm poses a risk to high-voltage power transmission lines, not the power lines normally found in people’s homes, NOAA space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl told reporters. Satellites could also be affected, which in turn could disrupt navigation and communications services here on Earth.

For example, an extreme geomagnetic storm in 2003 knocked out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.

On Saturday, NOAA said there were preliminary reports of power grid irregularities, deterioration of high-frequency communications and global positioning systems.

But the Federal Emergency Management Agency said that as of Saturday morning afternoon, no FEMA region had reported any significant impact from the storms.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.