Northern Lights shimmer farther south than usual tonight

[brooklynite]

(CNN)A geomagnetic storm triggered by a flare of solar energy hit Earth on Monday, making the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, light up the sky at lower latitudes than usual.

More people will be able to see the dazzling display, with auroras visible in Scotland and the north of England and as far south as New York, Wisconsin and Washington states, according to United States and United Kingdom authorities.

The effects are expected to continue Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the UK's Met Office, which said there could be a "rather active period of geomagnetic activity."

Geomagnetic storms are large disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field caused by changes in the solar wind and the structure of the interplanetary magnetic field. This latest storm was triggered on Saturday by a strong coronal mass ejection -- a hugely energetic explosion of light, solar material and energy from the Sun.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center said this geomagnetic storm was a "moderate" one, calling it a "G2" event on its 1 to 5 scale. The US agency also noted that the storm's impact would be felt above 55 degrees latitude, and it was possible that power grid fluctuations could occur.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/12/world/geomagnetic-storm-northern-lights-scn/index.html

[GusBob]

1. Saw them here

North Central Montana

[2naSalit]

2. Lucky!

Down here we've had blowing snow for the last 36 hours, might quit tomorrow, might quit on Thursday. Got at least a foot of so far. I had to dig my car out of a snow drift with a cornice on it this morning.

Maybe the clouds will glow.

[GusBob]

3. They were more east than north

Look to the North East

We havent any snow yet but looking forward to it

[2naSalit]

4. I think you're just west of this system...

I'm dead center in it. It's okay, I just have to get down to my storage and fish out the rest of my winter wear. I only have one of the warm coats out and it's a little snug this year. And my old place was easier to keep warm, this new joint will cost a lot to heat, I'm thinking.

If the clouds break, I might catch a glimpse of the lights somehow. I'll just hope until time's up.

[GemDigger]

7. The clouds did glow while it was snowing like crazy out.

Well not glow but flash pale shades of color above the snow clouds. I thought I was delusional but then I saw it two more times. I figured it was snow lightning.

[2naSalit]

8. Now that's cool!

I know you can look right through the snow especially when the moon is out, I suppose a strong enough aurora would do the same. I never tried to look for it when there were dense clouds.

There was a pinkish hue to the last light this evening, it's still snowing.

[GemDigger]

6. Monday morning around dawn?

I was outside around 6 am and the cloud cover was heavy and the snow was falling but the sky kept lighting up with shades of different colors. I thought it was snow lightning. Actually, first I thought I got up too early and was seeing things but it happened three times within a few minutes.

[Maru Kitteh]

9. Up in the Flathead we had a bright ribbon, blazing kiwi and huckleberry

in undulating streams of light! It was AMAZING. What a treat on the way into work.

[GemDigger]

11. Was it snowing up there? I saw it through all the snow clouds and what I mean by that

is that the clouds are what changed colors. I saw nothing clearly just the clouds going through flashes of colors as far as I could see. That was also pretty darn cool.

It was pretty freaky considering I had no clue what it was.

[A Brand New World]

5. We saw them!

Northeast WA, north of Spokane. Beautiful!!

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

10. Radiation from space, great, our star can wipe out our puny little civilization any time it wants

Carrington Event, Sept 2, 1859, coronal mass ejection, aurora seen in Cuba and Hawaii, telegraph lines in the US sparking, causing fires, glow at night so bright birds began chirping.

The future is not ours to determine, we bow to the almighty sun god.