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Here's where clouds will block the view of the northern lights in the US
From CNN's Angela Fritz
After an incredibly stormy week, most of the Lower 48 has clear skies to see the northern lights. But there are some areas where clouds and rainy weather are spoiling the view.
A deck of clouds is blocking the sky in the Northeast, from parts of Virginia into Maine, as an area of low pressure spins off the East Coast.
In the Midwest, the aurora will be hard to see through thick clouds in parts of Wisconsin, Michigan — including the Upper Peninsula — and Illinois.
A stripe of clouds is tracking across Texas, including Dallas-Forth Worth, and into Louisiana.
And in the Southwest, patchy clouds across the the Four Corners region could make the northern lights difficult to spot.
Aurora seen at least as far south as Georgia
Barely visible to the naked eye, the aurora can be seen in Atlanta in the 10 p.m. ET hour.
It is easier to see through photographs using a long exposure.The photos below, taken by CNN's Eric Zerkel and Emily Smith, used 3- and 10-second exposures.
Northern lights spotted in Maine
Some of the first aurora photos from the US come from Nate deLabry in Sebago Lake, Maine:
How teams of scientists predict space weather
From CNN's Ashley Strickland and Elise Hammond
Teams at the Space Weather Prediction Center use a wide range of data to predict when geomagnetic storms will impact Earth — like the one that's happening right now and expected to continue into the weekend.
These teams collect data from ground and space-based observatories, magnetic maps of the solar surface, and ultraviolet observations of the sun’s outer atmosphere to determine when the sun is most likely to send out solar flares, coronal mass ejections and other space weather that could affect Earth.
“We look at the sun for signs of increased activity,” Paul Sutter, an astrophysicist and NASA adviser said. “When we see a lot of sunspots we know that there’s the potential for these big storms.”
Scientists then watch those areas for any solar flares or flashes coming off the sun.
"That'swhen we know a solar stormmight have been launched," Sutter said.
The material sent speeding away from the sun during coronal mass ejections can arrive at Earth between 30 and 72 hours afterward, causing geomagnetic storms that affect satellites and create electrical currents in the upper atmosphere that travel through the ground and can have an impact on electric power grids.
Northern lights forecast shifts to US and Canada
From CNN's Angela Fritz
The Space Weather Prediction Center runs a model every few minutes that predicts where the aurora will be easiest to spot.
Its forecast for 10:04 p.m. ET showed nearly all of Canada will have a high chance of seeing the aurora if the skies are dark and clear. The high chance extends into the Lower 48, including parts of the Midwest, including Wisconsin and Michigan.
But areas as far south as the Ohio River Valley, West Virginia and Maryland will also have a chance to see the northern lights.
It needs to be dark to see the aurora, so areas where it's still light out won't yet be able to see it, even if they have a high chance in this forecast.
There continues to be a high likelihood of aurora over the far northern latitudes of Asia and Europe, including Finland, Sweden and Norway. Iceland will continue to have prime aurora viewing.
There is also still a chance to see aurora in parts of the UK.
How to take a photo of the aurora with your smartphone
From CNN's Emily Smith
Here are some tips to capture images of the northern lights with your smartphone, courtesy of the Iceland tourism board (It knows a thing or two about the aurora):
- Adjust your exposure time: The longer, the better.
- Keep your camera still: Prop your phone on a stable surface (or use a tripod) to get crisper images.
- Use manual focus: If you can, lock your focus to infinity.
- Shoot in RAW: If your camera allows you to. This format can capture more details.
According to NOAA, you might be able to capture the aurora with your phone even if you can't see them with your naked eye.
CNN's Ross Levitt contributed to this report.
AT&T and TMobile say they ready to respond to any impacts from geomagnetic storm
From CNN’s Joe Sutton and Sara Smart
US telecommunications company AT&T said it is monitoring and ready to respond to potential impacts from the massive solar storm.
“Based on what we currently know, we do not expect significant disruption in our networks as a result of the anticipated solar storm. We will continue to monitor closely and take appropriate action as we learn more,” AT&T said.
Another telecommunications company, TMobile, said it doesn't anticipate any impact but is monitoring for disruptions.
Remember: When radiation from the sun hits the magnetic sphere surrounding the planet, it causes fluctuations inthe ionosphere, a layer of the upper atmosphere. Those changes can directly affect satellites and other spacecraft in orbit, altering their orientation orpotentially knocking outtheir electronics.
Consumer wireless networks rely on different radio frequencies than the high-frequency band, so it appears unlikely that the storm will directly affect cellular service. So long as the underlying electrical infrastructure that supports wireless networks remains unaffected, even an extreme space weather event should result in “minimal direct impact to public safety line-of-sight radio and commercial cellular services … and no first-order impact to consumer electronic devices,” according to researcherssummarizingthe findings of a 2010 study.
This post has been updated with comments from TMobile.
The sun is in a solar maximum. Here's what that means
From CNN's Ashley Strickland
Scientists are warning an increase in solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun have the potential to disrupt communication on Earth into the weekend.
The sun is in a solar maximum, with activity expected to peak through mid-to-late 2024.
Every 11 years or so, the sun experiences periods of low and high solar activity, which is associated with the amount of sunspots on its surface. The sun’s strong and constantly shifting magnetic fields drive these dark regions, some of which can reach the size of Earth or larger.
Over the course of a solar cycle, the sun will transition from a calm to an intense and active period. During the peak of activity, called solar maximum, the sun’s magnetic poles flip. Then, the sun will grow quiet again during a solar minimum.
The current solar cycle, known as Solar Cycle 25, has been full of activity — more so than expected. Scientists at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, have already tracked more sunspots than those counted at the peak of the previous cycle.
The increased activity has also included strong solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or large clouds of ionized gas called plasma and magnetic fields that erupt from the sun's outer atmosphere.
What this means for us: Solar flares can affect communications and GPS almost immediately because they disrupt Earth’s ionosphere, or part of the upper atmosphere. Energetic particles released by the sun can also disrupt electronics on spacecraft and affect astronauts without proper protection within 20 minutes to several hours.
This post has been updated with more details about Solar Cycle 25.
US and Canadian utility companies are monitoring massive solar storm
From CNN’s Joe Sutton, Sara Smart and Raja Razek
Utility companies in the United States and Canada are monitoring the ongoing geomagnetic storm hitting the Earth. The series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun have the potential to disrupt power grids and communications.
US:
- DTE Energy, based in Detroit, said while no issues have been reported yet, it received an alert from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the organization that directs energy through Michigan and other states. As a result, DTE said it is "pausing non-essential maintenance and testing activities" and monitoring equipment.
- Duke Energy, which serves more than 8 million people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, said it isn't anticipating any outages but is tracking the solar activity. It said there hasn't been any fluctuations on the grid yet today due to the storm.
- Georgia Power said it is in touch with state and federal partners to receive reports on solar activity. It also said it doesn't anticipate any issues and its operations are monitoring conditions. The company serves more than 2 million people in Georgia.
- The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million people in Texas. It said it "expects no grid reliability concerns" with the storm and said it will keep customers informed.
- In the northeast, Eversource, which serves customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, said it has been closely following forecasts and has the staffing deal with any disturbance going into Saturday.
- A team at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will "continuously monitor the system to be ready to respond to any impacts," the company said. PG&E provides natural gas and electric service to approximately 16 million people in northern and central California.
- Entergy Mississippi said it is prepared to deal with impacts from the geomagnetic storm but does not anticipate any disturbances to its system. The company said all of its "standard relays meet industry electromagnetic compatibility requirements."
- Con Edison, which serves 10 million people in New York City and Westchester County, said it is "monitoring our systems closely."
Canada:
- Hydro-Québec said its "network has been recalibrated after the outages of 1989" when a solar storm knocked out the power grid in the Canadian province. It said in a statement that it doesn't expect any issues with this storm.
This post has been updated with information from additional utility companies.
