Triggered by an intense geomagnetic storm, the northern lights made a rare visit to the Southland on Tuesday night, painting the skies above the Angeles National Forest in dazzling pink and purple hues.
Although the aurora borealis is typically confined to the northern polar region, Tuesday’s light show could be seen in many parts of the continental United States as a burst of solar energy collided with Earth’s magnetic field, sending supercharged particles cascading through the atmosphere.
The spectacle was produced by one of the strongest geomagnetic storms in recent years, ranking as a G4 event on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s five-level scale.
The sun is pictured Wednesday amid a G4-level — or severe — geomagnetic storm.
(NOAA)
In Los Angeles County, most residents under the city’s heavy dome of light pollution were likely unaware that the phenomenon was unfolding nearby.
But in darker pockets of the region — the Angeles National Forest, Joshua Tree, and parts of the high desert — stargazers and photographers stood a better chance of watching the ribbons of color unfurl in the night sky.
On Tuesday evening, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said that “severe geomagnetic storm” levels had been reached. Although these storms can produce great beauty with the northern lights, they can also interfere with GPS and electrical systems.
“We’ve been talking to some state watch centers, FEMA, even the highest levels of our government at the White House, to inform them about this type of activity,” said Sean Dahl, a space weather forecaster at the center in a video on X. “Because these can impact the electric power grid of our country — the bulk electric system — and even satellite operations and communications.”
The northern lights fill the sky behind the Saint Joseph the Woodworker Shrine on Tuesday night near Valley Falls, Kan.
(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
The aurora borealis was also visible in Northern California and as far south as Florida, with especially stunning shows captured in Colorado and Washington.
Dahl said that another blast of solar material, known as a coronal mass ejection, is forecast to arrive in the United States midday Wednesday. However, daylight will likely obscure additional sightings of the northern lights.