World warned to prepare for today’s severe geomagnetic storm, first in 20 years

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center forecast a “severe solar storm” that is expected to hit Earth tonight, according to a release. These geomagnetic storms occur from time to time, but as the Sun approaches the maximum of its 11-year solar cycle, space weather becomes more intense.

A geomagnetic storm occurs when solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occur on the Sun, causing a variation in the solar wind to hit Earth’s magnetosphere, the protective envelope of Earth’s magnetic field.

At their best, storms cause fascinating but harmless auroras when charged particles from the Sun collide with particles that make up Earth’s atmosphere along its magnetic poles, emitting visible light. But in the worst cases, storms can disrupt Earth’s navigation systems, such as GPS, and cause disruptions to infrastructure such as the power grid and radio and satellite communications.

The upcoming storm was rated Severe (G4) by the Space Weather Prediction Center and prompted a Geomagnetic Storm Watch, the first time since January 2005 that such an alert has been issued. The center anticipates at least five CMEs that will head to Earth between noon today, May 10, and Sunday, May 12. The Sun produced a strong solar flare on Thursday, specifically an X1.1 flare; “The X class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about their strength.” according to NASA. Early in the day, NOAA documented an even stronger solar flare, classified as an X2.2 strong flare.

Experts from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center will hold a press conference on the storm and its potential impacts today at 10 a.m. ET. We will update this story with details from that press conference once it occurs.

According to a NOAA chart, several recent solar flares in the last week are associated with a large sunspot cluster about 16 times wider than Earth. You can actually see this sunspot yourself using eclipse glasses, if you have a pair lying around (Just make sure they are safe to use!)

Since the current solar cycle began in December 2019, NOAA has only observed three severe geomagnetic storms, the most recent (also rated G4) occurring in March 2024. The last G5 geomagnetic storm, one level more severe, occurred in October 2003 and caused power outages in Scandinavia and damage to infrastructure as far south as South Africa, according to the same graph.

The Sun’s intensity rises and falls over an 11-year cycle, meaning the current solar cycle won’t be complete until 2030. As Gizmodo reported in 2022, our somewhat unpredictable star is a A real problem for satellite operators., whose extraterrestrial infrastructure is especially exposed to solar fluctuations. We’ll learn more about the impacts of the ongoing solar event soon, but we hope to get some beautiful auroras without the infrastructural chaos.

Further: When will there be a new solar superstorm?