Historic Northern Lights Could Return as Major Solar Storm Unfolds Across U.S.

Brilliant displays of the northern lights surprised skywatchers across the United States on Tuesday night, reaching unusually far south into states such as Florida and Texas. Forecasters warn the solar activity is not finished: more auroras and space-weather impacts are expected to persist through the week.

Tuesday's severe geomagnetic storm

Active regions on the Sun launched clouds of charged material — coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — toward Earth this week. Two CMEs arrived on Tuesday, producing a Severe (G4) geomagnetic storm on NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) scale (4 out of 5), a rare and powerful event.

The storm painted the night sky with bands of green, red and purple aurora. While aurora are usually confined near the poles, a storm of this magnitude pushed visible displays much farther from the polar regions than is typical. Residents across the Southeast reported faint purple tones that often appeared more vivid in smartphone photos, while observers in parts of the Midwest and Northwest reported bright red overhead aurora.

Will the northern lights return on Wednesday night?

Possibly. SWPC forecasters say strong geomagnetic activity is likely to continue through Wednesday night and into Thursday. Another CME is expected to arrive on Wednesday and could produce impacts similar to Tuesday's, potentially sustaining elevated auroral activity after sunset. Forecasters warn the event could reach extreme (G5) levels — the highest on the scale — if conditions intensify, a level not widely seen since last May.

Impacts of the solar storm

Space weather can affect power grids, satellites, GPS navigation and radio communications, and can cause temporary radio blackouts. SWPC reported that Tuesday's flare produced a wide-area high-frequency (HF) radio blackout that lasted roughly an hour, peaking near 5 a.m. ET.

Under severe storm conditions, power systems can experience voltage-control issues and increased risk of transformer stress. Satellite operators and spacecraft controllers may face tracking and drag concerns as Earth's upper atmosphere becomes more disturbed.

The heightened activity has already affected launch planning. Blue Origin postponed the scheduled New Glenn launch — which was to carry NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft to Mars — citing highly elevated solar activity and concerns about potential effects on the mission. "New Glenn is ready to launch; however, due to highly elevated solar activity and its potential effects on the ESCAPADE spacecraft, NASA is postponing launch until space weather conditions improve," Blue Origin wrote on X.

Blue Origin on X: "We are assessing opportunities to establish our next launch window based on forecasted space weather and range availability."

SWPC has notified grid operators and satellite and radio-system managers so they can take steps to mitigate potential impacts.

How to view the northern lights

Faint auroras are easiest to see under dark skies away from city lights, but during severe or extreme events they can sometimes be visible even from brightly lit urban areas. On Tuesday, people in downtown Chicago, Boston and Denver reported seeing auroral glows.

For viewers at lower latitudes, dark, open locations give the best chance of seeing the lights. If the aurora is too faint to see with the naked eye, try using a camera or smartphone in night mode or with long-exposure settings — these can reveal subtle colors and purple hues that may be hard to detect otherwise.