Section Branding
Header Content
NOAA Issues First Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch Since 2005
Primary Content
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center observed a cluster of sunspots on the surface of the sun this week. With them came solar flares that kicked off a severe geomagnetic storm. That storm is expected to last throughout the weekend as at least five coronal mass ejections — chunks of the sun — are flung out into space, towards Earth! NOAA uses a five point scale to rate these storms, and this weekend's storm is a G4. It's expected to produce auroras as far south as Alabama. To contextualize this storm, we are looking back at the largest solar storm on record: the Carrington Event.
Want us to cover more about the sun? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to Short Wave on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
The update to this episode was produced and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Regina G. Barber checked the facts. Ko Takasugi-Czernowin was the audio engineer.
Bottom Content
