Georgians have chance to see the Northern Lights in the South this weekend due to rare solar event

ATLANTA — A spectacular display of the Northern Lights – or Northern Lights – is possible in the northern United States, with even a rare light show in parts of the Southeast.

This is all due to several moderate to strong solar flares that erupted on Wednesday.

At least five of these solar flares are believed to be aimed toward Earth, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

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Solar flares directed toward Earth can create geomagnetic storms and this one could be unusually strong. NOAA has issued a severe magnetic storm watch for the first time in nearly two decades, since 2005.

Geomagnetic storms can disrupt some of our everyday communication tools, like satellites and radio signals.

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The most violent storms can even disrupt the power grid. With this storm, the main thing people in the Northern Hemisphere will likely notice is a bigger – and more southerly – display of the Northern Lights this weekend.

The Northern Lights are common in high latitudes. They are created when solar energy reaches Earth and interacts with its upper atmosphere. During much stronger solar events, like this one, the Northern Lights can be visible on the horizon, much further south.

Severe Weather Team 2 Based on the current Northern Lights forecast for Friday and Saturday evening, it is possible that the Northern Lights could be visible as far south as southern California, Tennessee and North Carolina.

At this time, it is unlikely that the aurora will be visible in the northern Georgia mountains.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration puts online a gallery of the different eruptions recorded from May 2 to 9.

An advisory on the phenomenon was published Thursday by the federal agency.

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