Space weather forecasters have issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic storm watch for the evening, and additional solar flares could result in the storm conditions persisting through the weekend. If the northern lights become visible in North Texas, the effects could last through the early hours of Saturday morning. NOAA said a watch at the G4 level is "very rare."
While a map predicting the northern lights' reach does not fall over the southern half of the U.S., the lights can be seen from nearly 700 miles away, NOAA said.
While DFW's chance of visibility is low, experts say that getting away from city lights and facing northward could result in seeing the aurora borealis. Partly cloudy conditions are expected in North Texas this evening, which could impede visibility. As of Friday afternoon, regions of Europe were already reporting seeing the dramatic sky lights.
"If you happen to be in an area where it's dark and cloud free and relatively unpolluted by light, you may get to see a fairly impressive aurora display, and that's really the gift from space weather, is the aurora," Rob Steenburgh, a space scientist with NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, said.
NOAA said the geomagnetic storms could result in temporary disruptions in communications, electric power grids, navigation, radio and satellite operations. BREAKING: Thousands of reports of Northern Lights coming in from multiple locations across Europe. A severe G4 geomagnetic storm is currently affecting Earth. Truly the most stunning aurora show in years. Currently visible as far south as northern Italy. pic.twitter.com/S3uvGCxiHe
— Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB_) May 10, 2024
