Rare, severe geomagnetic storm hits Earth: Will it impact the grid?

(NEXSTAR) – Geomagnetic storm conditions observed over the weekend strengthened Monday morning, creating a “major disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field,” the Space Weather Prediction Center said.

The storm reached a G4 level in strength — the second-highest on the scale, classified as “severe” — just before 11 a.m. Eastern Time. The geomagnetic storm conditions may continue into the evening as solar flaring continues, forecasters said.

“Severe levels is pretty extraordinary,” Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at SWPC, said in a media briefing earlier this year. “It’s a very rare event to happen.”

How will the solar storm impact Earth’s infrastructure?

At the G4 level, impacts on our infrastructure are possible. When coronal mass ejections (which are basically explosions of plasma and magnetic material from the sun) reach Earth, they carry with them their own magnetic field, explained Robert Steenburgh, a space scientist at SWPC.

“When you superimpose that over long conductors, things like pipelines, and railroad tracks and power lines, it can induce current — and that’s electrical current that’s not supposed to be there,” he said.

The interference could cause issues with the power grid because of voltage control problems. There also could be issues with radio communications and satellite operations, and GPS navigation may be less accurate or spotty.

The SWPC activated a hotline Monday to keep power grid operators informed on the latest space weather activity, allowing them to implement measures that help avoid disruptions.

There shouldn’t be major issues with ATMs, cell phones or other technology people depend upon — unless power outages occur, which would obviously affect your ability to use plugged-in devices and home internet.

Will we see northern lights?

While geomagnetic storms reaching G4 strength have been known to bring the northern lights to much of the country — at times as far south as Alabama and northern California — it’s unlikely we’ll experience that as part of this activity. 

The SWPC believes the CME passages will weaken and conditions will decline as Monday goes on. That means that by the time the sky is dark enough for those in the U.S. to see the aurora, they most likely won’t be there. 

“However, there is always uncertainty when it comes to space weather and just how long a CME passage may continue,” Dahl told Nexstar Monday, adding that solar winds “could remain favorable.” 

If that happens, Dahl says we could see G1 and G2 level storming into Monday night. 

The current SWPC forecasting, seen below, shows more than a dozen states have at least a slim chance at seeing the northern lights Monday. Those with the best chances are Washington, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota, as well as northern portions of Idaho, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. 

Those even further south (at or above the red line on the map above) — Oregon, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine — could see the aurora while looking toward the northern horizon. 

It’s also possible we’ll have a more favorable northern lights forecast in the near future. According to the SWPC, the sun has reached its highest level of sunspot activity in more than two decades. The more active the sun is, the better chance we have at CMEs hitting Earth and sparking northern lights.