Colorful northern lights may be in store in the wake of a geomagnetic storm in the Earth's magnetosphere.
A coronal mass ejection impact is likely today and is expected to cause geomagnetic storming with effects lasting into New Year's Eve, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The strong geomagnetic storm may bring the northern lights to states with latitudes as low as Illinois and Oregon, the Space Weather Prediction Center reported.
A storm of this strength could affect power systems, including false alarms, spacecraft operations and high frequency radio transmissions. The Weather Channel noted the Space Weather Prediction Center has been tracking a coronal mass ejection, or large emission of plasma from the sun capable of disrupting the solar wind flow, likely to impact Earth.
"A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth," the prediction center reported. "These storms result from variations in the solar wind that produces major changes in the currents, plasmas, and fields in Earth's magnetosphere."
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The coronal mass ejection was already associated with a small radio blackout Monday, the Weather Channel noted.
"These storms may bring beautiful colors into the night sky, but their impacts are widespread, from GPS interference to the creation of harmful currents in power grids," the Weather Channel stated.
