'Severe geomagnetic storm watch' issued

• The uncommonly powerful solar storm is expected to hit around midday Friday

Feds are forecasting that an uncommonly powerful solar storm will occur in outer space Friday – potentially affecting millions of Americans.

The ‘unusual event’, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)  put it in an emergency bulletin Thursday, would be the first in nearly 20 years if it comes to fruition.

It follows a series of solar flares that began on Wednesday, during which several large expulsions of plasma from the Sun’s corona – the outermost part of its atmosphere – were spotted.

That paved the way for the alert for Friday, where officials said the expulsions of matter and magnetic field could cause geomagnetic storms and problems for earthlings.

Those storms could cause electronic devices like GPS and parts of power grids to malfunction, they warned –  while citing how it may drape a huge portion of the country in a spectacular circle of light stretching from California to Alabama.

A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere – the area around Earth controlled by the planet’s magnetic field – often caused by CMEs. Pictured, a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun, as captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite on June 17, 2015

The emergency alert read: ‘NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)- a division of the National Weather Service – is monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that began on May 8’

‘NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)- a division of the National Weather Service – is monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that began on May 8,’ the emergency alert read:

‘Space weather forecasters have issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the evening of Friday.

‘Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend,’ it went on, before describing the abnormal actiivty that tipped space specialists off.

‘A large sunspot cluster has produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday at 5:00 am ET,’ it read

‘At least five flares were associated with CMEs that appear to be Earth-directed. SWPC forecasters will monitor NOAA and NASA’s space assets for the onset of a geomagnetic storm.’

The agency went on to define CMEs – explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona.

They cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth, they warned – revealing this to be the case of early Friday.

Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost. The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing the Earth’s magnetic field

‘Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend,’ officials, before describing the abnormal activity that tipped space specialists off

‘Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface,’ the statement went on – stating how the rare event could ‘potentially [disrupt] communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.

‘SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action,’ officials wrote. ‘Geomagnetic storms can also trigger spectacular displays of aurora on Earth. A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen as far south as Alabama and Northern California.’

More to follow…

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