A severe geomagnetic storm—the second-highest category in NOAA's rating system—hit the Earth recently, according to government experts. As per the authorities, the incident caused "a major disturbance in Earth's magnetic field," which might have had an effect on infrastructure and extended the visibility of the northern lights.
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center's predictions
A coronal mass ejection was discovered on Saturday and was predicted to reach the globe late that day, possibly extending into Monday, according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, which also issued a geomagnetic storm watch. A massive cloud of plasma and magnetic field that explodes from the sun's corona is known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME.
On Friday, this specific CME bursts in tandem with a solar flare, which is an abrupt outburst of electromagnetic radiation from the sun. The eruption "travels at the speed of light," which means it can affect Earth as soon as it is noticed, according to NOAA, and these flares can linger for hours. The strongest kind of flare is an X-class flare, which is what was seen with the CME; however, this one wasn't the strongest ever recorded. Nonetheless, further X-class flares are predicted to occur through Wednesday, according to NOAA forecasters.
The CME's effects "appear to be weakening," according to NOAA on Monday morning, but the event's carrier solar wind speeds remained high. Since then, a "moderate" storm warning has been extended. G2 moderate geomagnetic storms can disrupt transformers, affect high-latitude electrical systems, and bring the northern lights as far north as New York and Idaho. To implement corrective actions for orientation, flight ground control may also be necessary.
The magnetic field of the sun flips every 11 years, causing the north and south poles to alternate locations. During that cycle, solar activity varies; at this point, it is almost at its solar maximum or highest level of activity.
The geomagnetic storm that struck Earth on Sunday is one of several that can occur during these periods. A few years could elapse between storms during solar minimum. Radio connections were hampered in December by the largest solar flare in the recent past.