You may have heard many people talking about seeing the Northern Lights in different parts of the country this week.
That is part of a geomagnetic storm, and there is a strong chance another one is on its way.
According to scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, this happens when the sun releases a large amount of magnetic particles called coronal mass ejections that start traveling toward Earth. Once they arrive, they interact with Earth’s magnetic field, which causes the geomagnetic storm.
Scientists categorize storms from G1 to G5 based on the number of particles from the sun.
While there is no physical damage to the planet, scientists with NOAA say storms can occasionally interfere with some technologies, depending on their strength.
“Communications that are relied upon can be dramatically impacted. GPS can go totally unusable for long periods of time, which is very important for precision needs,” said Shawn Dahl, NOAA space weather coordinator. “You can have a power grid become very susceptible to currents of energy that develop because of this interaction of magnetic energy of electrical transmission lines.”
Dahl said that is a very rare occurrence.
Since Southeast Texas is so far south, people in the region cannot see the Northern Lights. Scientists say they are most common in the Northeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest.
This story comes from our news partner ABC13 Houston.