U.S. weather forecasters were surprised at the size of a solar storm Tuesday and said there could be some effects on Earth's power grid and GPS systems.
According to the Associated Press, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) graded the storm a 4 on their 1-to-5 scale of severity. Fortunately, Earth has not seen a level-5 solar storm in almost 10 years.
"It's significantly stronger than expected," Thomas Berger, director of the NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colo., told the AP.
After detecting two flares from the sun on Sunday, forecasters predicted the geomagnetic storm would hit at level-1 severity.
"This geomagnetic storm is the result of two significant eruptions from the sun's corona that occurred early on Sunday, March 15," the SWPC said in a statement.
Berger told the AP this storm, though more severe than initially forecasted, will not affect satellite operations. In fact, the storm is expected to force the Aurora Borealis - also known as the Northern Lights - farther south, giving more people a chance to see the magnificent view.
WOW! Northern Lights early this St. Patrick's Day in Grand Marais, MN. Photo: David Johnson. #NorthernLights #Aurora pic.twitter.com/f4TGSY2dsJ
— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) March 17, 2015
The Aurora at 3:30am in YEG! #yeg #Aurora @mikesobel @GlobalEdmonton pic.twitter.com/78uKPf22c2 — Keith Moore (@kmoorephotos) March 17, 2015
Brent Gordon, of the SWPC, told the AP Washington State, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin all reported being able to see the auroras before sunrise Tuesday. If lucky, Middle American states will be able to see them as well.
"The auroras were insane," Marketa Murray, a photographer in Alaska, told SpaceWeather.com, noting she had seen several auroras in the past. "I have never seen anything like this."
