New York, Idaho to possibly witness aurora borealis

Continued sun activity has prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) to alert the people of a geomagnetic storm warning from August 3 to 4. 

The solar show has been quite active this week as people got to observe auroras due to the storms across the US and Canada. 

According to Space, a solar flare erupted from the sun on August 1st resulting in the arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME). If the geomagnetic watch warning is correct then the auroras can be witnessed as far as New York and Idaho. 

It is important to understand how the northern lights or the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere and the southern lights or aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere occur. 

The CMEs expelled from the sun are plasma and magnetic fields and when they collide with the magnetosphere of the earth, the collision can cause geomagnetic storms. 

The ions interact with gasses in the earth’s atmosphere during the storms, emitting a powerful display of energy through light, explains Space. 

The space weather is just as unpredictable and challenging to accurately forecast as the weather of our planet is. Geomagnetic storm warnings are a normal occurrence and sometimes, they do not result in a majestic display of lights. 

So the planet could be left wondering about the northern lights or it could witness an impressive aurora borealis. It all depends on the magnetic field alignment within the CME and how it connects with the earth’s magnetosphere.