Pilot captures ‘incredible’ light show in Michigan before ‘severe’ geomagnetic storm

An airline pilot recently captured a rare and “breathtaking” view of the northern lights over Michigan, witnessing the colorful light show shortly before the arrival of a “severe” geomagnetic storm.

The pilot was flying over Port Huron, the yellow glow of the city below and the shimmering green and red of the Aurora Borealis filling the night sky ahead, a photo shared by the city’s police department shows.

“It’s amazing to see such natural beauty right here in our area,” the department said in an Oct. 9 Facebook post. Over 800 people shared the post as of the morning of Oct. 10, calling the aurora “incredible,” “breathtaking,” “rare and wonderful.”

The good news is that the otherworldly glow is only expected to intensify on Oct. 10 and 11, when a powerful geomagnetic storm hits the earth , according to experts.

The northern lights are often caused by coronal mass ejections , or CMEs, which NASA describes as “ejected gas bubbles” from the surface of the sun. When that occurs, charged particles can ride the solar winds toward earth, and cause “substorms” when they hit our planet’s magnetosphere.

Officials detected a powerful CME very recently, on Oct. 8, and it’s predicted to cause a G4 level geomagnetic storm , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. While it’s nothing for the average person to worry about, the organization issued a storm watch, as the storm could have “detrimental impacts to some of our critical infrastructure technology,” the NOAA said. NOAA said they’re concerned the storm may potentially effect the U.S. power grid, but officials are preparing for that possibility.

“Watches at this level are very rare,” the organization added.

But another effect of such a powerful storm is the potential for an even more impressive display of lights , Forbes reported.

When a G5 level geomagnetic storm arrived in May, the “extreme” event caused the northern lights to become visible as far south as Texas and across parts of the US that rarely, if ever, get to witness the lights. Due to the G4 storm, this may happen again.

“ The aurora may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California,” according to an alert from the center, McClatchy News reported.

The G4 storm is expected to arrive at about noon ET Oct. 10, according to NOAA, and may last through Oct. 11.

‘Beautiful’ green fireball flies over farmhouse at 70,000 mph, Pennsylvania video shows

If you look closely, a series of flares seen on the sun outline a figure, NASA says