Northern Lights Illuminate New Jersey Amid Rare Geomagnetic Storm
By April Kopacz
On the evening of Thursday, October 10, 2024, the Northern Lights–more commonly known as the aurora borealis–painted the night sky across New Jersey and other parts of the country with vibrant hues of purple, pink, blue, and green. This rare atmospheric event occurred because of a severe geomagnetic storm caused by a massive solar flare, which had the potential to disrupt power grids and communications. The light show stretched so far south that it was even seen around the Florida Keys, showing the immense power of the solar flare that triggered the geomagnetic disturbance (Melisurgo).
Geomagnetic storms are caused by eruptions on the sun’s surface, such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These explosions release monumental amounts of fast-moving, ionized plasma that erupt from the sun’s outer atmosphere into space and interact with Earth’s magnetic field (Strickland). While our planet's magnetic field generally shields us from most of this solar activity, this time, it was stretched and strained to an exceptionally high level and pushed near its limits. This interaction causes particles from the sun to collide with atoms from Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in the beautiful colors seen during auroras. While auroras are typically seen near the polls, they can be seen at latitudes far beyond their usual reach when these storms get intense, like the one in October (“May 2024 solar storm”).
The NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center classified the October storm as a “severe” G4 event. This event follows the extreme solar storm back in early May, which was considered “ one of the strongest displays of auroras on record in the past 500 years” and reached a G5 level–the highest level on the geomagnetic storm scale and one that hasn’t been seen since 2003 (Johnson). These high-level storms, although captivating, can interfere with satellite communications, GPS signals, and power grids–even so, no significant incidents were reported as a result of either storm (Sheldon; “May 2024 solar storm”). While October 10th’s light show was spectacular, the potential for further and worse geomagnetic storms remains. Experts from NOAA and the European Space Agency will continue to monitor the sun’s activity. Though severe storms like this are rare, they are becoming more frequent as solar activity increases in the lead-up to the next solar maximum–or peak activity in the sun’s 11-year solar cycle—expected in 2025 (“Severe solar storm may stress power”).
Works Cited
The Associated Press. “Severe solar storm may stress power grids as U.S. deals with major hurricanes.” NPR, 10 October 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/10/10/g-s1-27384/solar-storm-power-grids-hurricanes. Accessed 6 November 2024.
Johnson, Mara. “How NASA Tracked the Most Intense Solar Storm in Decades.” NASA Science, 20 May 2024, https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/how-nasa-tracked-the-most-intense-solar-storm-in-decades/. Accessed 6 November 2024.
“The May 2024 solar storm: your questions answered.” European Space Agency, 16 May 2024, https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_weather/The_May_2024_solar_storm_your_questions_answered. Accessed 6 November 2024.
Melisurgo, Len. “Northern Lights may be visible in N.J. tonight due to severe geomagnetic storm.” NJ.com, 10 October 2024, https://www.nj.com/news/2024/10/northern-lights-may-be-visible-in-nj-tonight-due-to-severe-geomagnetic-storm.html. Accessed 6 November 2024.
Sheldon, Chris. “Did you see the Northern Lights? Aurora borealis brightens N.J. night sky.” NJ.com, 11 October 2024, https://www.nj.com/weather/2024/10/did-you-see-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-brightens-nj-sky.html. Accessed 6 November 2024.
Strickland, Ashley. “NOAA: Solar storm set to arrive, possibly creating auroras as well as affecting communications, GPS systems and power.” CNN, 9 October 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/09/science/solar-storm-aurora-power-gps/index.html. Accessed 6 November 2024.
