JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Space weather forecasters issued an alert on Tuesday for incoming severe\u00a0solar storms\u00a0that could produce\u00a0colorful northern lights\u00a0and temporarily disrupt communications.<\/p>\n
Throughout the night Tuesday, numerous sightings of the Northern lights were reported in states such as Kentucky, Indiana, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Colorado and as far south as Florida.<\/p>\n
In the past few days, the sun has burped out\u00a0several bursts of energy\u00a0called coronal mass ejections that could reach Earth Tuesday night and early Wednesday. The potential severe geomagnetic storms could disrupt radio and GPS communications, according to forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n
How bright the auroras are and\u00a0how far south they are visible\u00a0will depend on when the solar bursts get here and how they interact with Earth\u2019s atmosphere. The vibrant displays could be visible across much of the northern U.S., and as far south as Alabama and Northern California.<\/p>\n
How northern lights happen<\/p>\n
The sun is at the maximum phase of its 11-year activity cycle, making the light displays more common and widespread. Colorful northern lights have decorated night skies in unexpected places and space weather experts say there are more auroras still to come.<\/p>\n
Aurora displays known as the northern and southern lights are commonly visible near the poles, where charged particles from the sun interact with Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Skygazers are spotting the lights deeper into the United States and Europe because the sun is going through a major face-lift. Every 11 years, its poles swap places, causing magnetic twists and tangles along the way.<\/p>\n
Last year, the strongest geomagnetic storm in two decades slammed Earth, producing light displays across the Northern Hemisphere. And soon afterward, a powerful solar storm dazzled skygazers far from the Arctic Circle when dancing lights appeared in unexpected places including Germany, the United Kingdom, New England and New York City.<\/p>\n
The sun\u2019s active spurt is expected to last at least through the end of this year, though when solar activity will peak won\u2019t be known until months after the fact, according to NASA and NOAA.<\/p>\n
How solar storms affect Earth<\/p>\n
Solar storms can bring more than colorful lights to Earth.<\/p>\n
When fast-moving particles and plasma slam into Earth\u2019s magnetic field, they can temporarily disrupt the power grid. Space weather can also interfere with air traffic control radio and satellites in orbit. Severe storms are capable of scrambling other radio and GPS communications.<\/p>\n
In 1859, a severe solar storm triggered auroras as far south as Hawaii and set telegraph lines on fire in a rare event. And a 1972 solar storm may have detonated magnetic U.S. sea mines off the coast of Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Space weather experts aren\u2019t able to predict a solar storm months in advance. Instead, they alert relevant parties to prepare in the days before a solar outburst hits Earth.<\/p>\n
How to see auroras<\/p>\n
Northern lights forecasts can be found on\u00a0NOAA\u2019s Space Weather Prediction Center website<\/a>\u00a0or an aurora forecasting app.<\/p>\n Consider aurora-watching in a quiet, dark area away from city lights. Experts recommend skygazing from a local or national park. And check the weather forecast because clouds can cover up the spectacle entirely.<\/p>\n Taking a picture with a smartphone camera may also reveal hints of the aurora that aren\u2019t visible to the naked eye.<\/p>\n >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Space weather forecasters issued an alert on Tuesday for incoming severe\u00a0solar storms\u00a0that could produce\u00a0colorful northern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12832,30785,30778,7898,2652,639,27929,28,30783,30784,30781,30782,30779,969,116,118,117,634,30780],"class_list":{"0":"post-47297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action_shacks","9":"tag-alertskycam","10":"tag-bryceville","11":"tag-center","12":"tag-central_florida","13":"tag-duval_county","14":"tag-earth","15":"tag-florida","16":"tag-g2","17":"tag-g4","18":"tag-g4_storm","19":"tag-g5","20":"tag-garrett","21":"tag-jack","22":"tag-jacksonville","23":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","24":"tag-jacksonville-news","25":"tag-local","26":"tag-space_coast"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}