Solar Storm Brings Dazzling Aurora, Threatens Power Grids
- US issues its severest storm warning since October 2003
- Large sunspot is responsible for this week’s solar bursts
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A severe solar storm this weekend brought a dazzling display of the Northern Lights that could be seen across Europe and as far south as Alabama in the US, while threatening to trigger blackouts and disrupt navigation systems around the world.
An extreme geomagnetic storm is underway as energy from the sun collided with Earth’s magnetic field, the US Space Weather Prediction Center said. The threshold for the G5 storm, the highest on the center’s five-step scale, was reached at 6:54 pm New York time on Friday.