SAN ANTONIO — Solar storms may cause faint northern lights across fringes of the United States over the weekend as forecasters monitor for possible disruptions to power and communications.
The sun’s magnetic field is currently at the peak of its 11-year cycle, making solar storms and northern lights more frequent. The sun shot out two strong flares this week, including one Thursday that was the biggest since 2017.
Pale auroras may be visible as far south as South Dakota, Iowa and New York — but the storms could still intensify or weaken over the weekend.
But what about us in San Antonio and other Texas communities? Parts of South Texas were graced with majestic sights of the northern lights earlier this year, and there's a chance -– albeit a small one – that they'll return Friday and Saturday night.
However, it'll likely take a solar storm strong than what's initially expected for this weekend, and those in North Texas are likelier to catch the purple-pink nighttime hues.
“There's still a fair amount of uncertainty," Erica Grow Cei, spokesperson for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Friday.
Unusually strong solar storms in May produced jaw-dropping aurora displays across the Northern Hemisphere. This week's storms featured fewer ejections of the high energy plasma that can drive a light show, according to NOAA.