SEATTLE — People all over Washington state were treated to late-night views of the northern lights after a powerful geomagnetic storm hit Earth's atmosphere on Thursday.
KING 5 viewers sent photos in from Anacortes, Gold Bar, Sammamish, Carnation, Brief, Bellingham, Shelton, Wenatchee and many other places, showing the colorful aurora borealis which remained in the night sky for several hours.
This was the biggest geomagnetic storm to hit since a powerful storm in May pushed the northern lights as far south as Oklahoma. The Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) which caused the aurora left the surface of the sun on Oct. 8 and made impact two days later.
Northern lights over Washington state, Oct. 10, 2024
A CME is a type of solar storm that blasts solar material into space. When that material collides with the Earth's atmosphere, the particles glow different colors as they shed energy.
Different types of solar storms, including CMEs, are blasting from the sun at all times – it's when the solar material is directed at the earth that we see an opportunity for aurora borealis viewing. The SWPC can predict these storms three to four days in advance due to satellites that can detect space weather events and measure solar wind. This is also vital to protect technology and services that people rely on that can be thrown into chaos when geomagnetic storms make impact.
At the storm's peak, it registered as a G4 on a scale of 1-5, which is considered to be "severe." May's storm registered as a G5, which is considered to be "extreme." The G scale measures the forecasted impact to technology on Earth. Geomagnetic storms can change the structure of Earth's outer atmosphere, where signals pass back and forth between satellites and technology on the ground. They can also impact the power grid.