Possible severe solar storm could lead to appearance of aurora borealis in Ontario
Posted May 10, 2024 4:37 pm.
Ontario residents as far south as the GTA could be in for a show Friday evening as there is chance they could catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a severe solar storm watch for Friday.
“A large sunspot cluster has produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday at 5:00 am E.T. At least five flares were associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that appear to be Earth-directed,” read the release.
CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona and when they arrive at Earth, a geomagnetic storm can occur.
The geomagnetic storms could potentially disrupt communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations. Severe storms also can trigger “spectacular displays of aurora on Earth,” that could be seen as far south as Northern California and Alabama.
The best time to potentially catch a glimpse of the lights will be between 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. in Ontario.
Toronto Pearson Airport said the solar storm won’t affect their operations beyond some “short-lived static” on their radio lines and flights are expected to continue as normal.
The agency added that additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend.
