AURORA FORECAST: Northern Lights may be visible in Maryland on Thursday night due to solar storm

BALTIMORE, MD—Forecasters say the Aurora Borealis may be visible in Maryland on Thursday night.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) says a fast coronal mass ejection (CME, or solar flare) erupted from the Sun on the evening of 8 October, 2024, and is likely to arrive at Earth on Thursday, October 10th. These CMEs are what cause the Northern Lights to be visible in parts of the U.S.

This CME has been analyzed and speed estimates are 1200 to 1300 km/s. This makes for a potential arrival time as early as the morning to midday of 10 October EDT. There is potential to reach G4 (Severe) upon arrival of this CME and throughout its passage.

Forecasters won’t know the characteristics of the CME until it is about 1 million miles from Earth and it is measured by satellites. There is the possibility that G5 (Extreme) conditions may be possible, which is rare.

The SWPC has issued a G4 geomagnetic storm warning, just the second one they’ve issued since 2005. The other came this past May, but it was cloudy in the Baltimore area that night.

Strong geomagnetic storms can disrupt radio communications and power grids and even damage orbiting satellites, according to Space.com – but they can also boost the auroras, also known as the northern and southern lights, making them more intense and viewable at lower latitudes than usual.

“You need us to be ready to roll and monitor our web page, that real-time solar wind in particular,” Shawn Dahl, service coordinator for the SWPC, said at a press conference on Wednesday, October 9th. “Be cognizant and maybe subscribe to the actual alerts so you know when activities are taking place. What you’re going to be looking for is the enhanced magnetic field, which we expect to have, and what’s that orientation. If it’s staying northward, it’s not as likely to progress further southward. But, if it goes to opposite Earth — southward, as we call it — that’s when things will rapidly spin up and the aurora is most likely.”

Follow the Space Weather Prediction Center on X for more updates.

Photo via Pixabay