A magnetic cloud hurtling through space at more than 2 million mph is expected to hit Earth on Thursday. It has the potential to disrupt power and communications systems — and shower Colorado with a colorful atmospheric light show.
The cloud was launched by a large flare from the Sun’s outer layer on Sunday. The speed and size of the eruption, known as a coronal mass ejection, is likely to create a severe solar storm when it collides with Earth’s own magnetic field.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, headquartered in Boulder, has issued a rare warning that operators of power grids, satellite companies and telecommunications systems should brace for possible disruptions.
The agency is expecting a G4 storm — a four out of five on the geomagnetic storm scale — but the intensity will ultimately depend on how the fields in the magnetic cloud are oriented when it strikes the magnetic fields surrounding the Earth, said Space Weather Forecaster Shawn Dahl.
Scientists won’t know which direction the cloud’s magnetic fields are pointed until it’s about 1 million miles away, which Dahl said is enough time for sensors on satellites to give researchers a 15-or 30-minute warning before the impact is apparent on the ground.
If the two magnetic fields align, there’s a bigger chance for disruptions and dramatic Northern lights visible in the skies across Colorado Thursday night.
“Most people should be able to kick back and hopefully behold a spectacle aurora if it develops,” Dahl said.
The magnetic cloud is moving towards Earth much faster than the solar eruption that caused a major solar storm in May, but it will likely be less intense since it’s coming in a single burst instead of multiple waves, Dahl said.
The space weather agency met with power grid operators across the U.S. on Wednesday and has scheduled an update with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help officials ensure the solar storm doesn’t knock out parts of the electrical system or further slow relief efforts in communities battered last month by Hurricane Helene.
The agency and FEMA are also monitoring the solar storm to get ahead of any possible disruptions from Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
“Everybody that needs the information to keep the power running to their home and keep communications up are going to be doing the best they can with information from us to deal with the problem,” he said. “It's not to say something can't happen … but they're going to do their job.”
