A historic geomagnetic storm created a beautiful scene in the night sky across the United States on Friday night, with the aurora borealis visible as far south as Florida.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed Friday that the geomagnetic storm had reached “extreme” Level 5 status. NOAA also reported that there is no sign that conditions for these historic storms will slow until Sunday.
fox weather They reported that the cause of these storms was “a giant sunspot 17 Earths wide.” The scientific term to describe this phenomenon is known as coronal mass ejection or CME.
Millions of people in southern Kansas, Oklahoma are at risk of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms
A bird’s eye view of the Northern Lights over South Carolina, captured by FOX Weather Storm Tracker Mark Sudduth. (via Mark Sudduth, Fox Weather)
On Friday, viewers from all over the country, from Washington state to Missouri, enjoyed the Northern Lights display.
One social media user wrote: “I’ve always wanted to go see the Northern Lights! They’re so amazing!”
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, NOAA Director of Operations Mike Bettui said, “This was certainly a very historic event in many ways, because we saw the intense aurora borealis. “Not only did we see a lot of them, but they also occurred far to the south and at low latitudes.” They aren’t usually seen much either in South Florida.
A photo of the clouds parting before the aurora borealis, taken from the NWS office in Caribou, Maine. (NWS via Fox Weather)
“We’ve had some pretty impressive displays all the way down to Fort Lauderdale, all the way to parts of Puerto Rico. In fact, we just recently received a report of a sighting in Hawaii.”
For those who missed Friday Night Lights, all hope is not lost. Another display is expected on Sunday.
“The storm is expected to return late tomorrow into tomorrow night,” Betwee added. “So tomorrow night’s display could be pretty close to what we saw last night in terms of how spread out it is. The display of colors and how vibrant they are. Tomorrow night’s display is going to be pretty good as well. that’s right.”
Photos from across the United States shared with Fox News Digital showed the historic weather event from Maine to Southern California.
Aurora captured in Mukilteo, Washington during a geomagnetic storm on May 10, 2024. (Scott Sistek via Fox Weather)
Forecasters at the NWS office outside Birmingham, Alabama, not only saw the space station, but also the aurora borealis. (@NWSBirmingham via Fox Weather)
The Northern Lights were photographed outside of Republic, Missouri by Katie Adams Long. (Katie Adams Long)
Gina McMurtry photographed the night sky in Willard, Missouri. (Gina McMurtry)
Rachel Street took this photo of the bright blue and pink Northern Lights in Pierce City, Missouri. (Rachel Street)
This photo of Friday’s extreme geomagnetic event was taken by Kayla Goodrich-Danielson in Waynesville, Missouri. (Kayla Goodrich Danielson)
Laney Lathrop photographed a geomagnetic storm on May 10th in Lebanon, Missouri. (Lainey Lathrop)
The Northern Lights in Hastings, Nebraska photographed at CME on May 10th. (Via NWS Hastings, Fox Weather)
FOX Senior Business Systems Analyst Anthony Tye spotted the Northern Lights outside of California’s Mojave Desert. (Anthony Tye)
Luke Culver of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, photographed the aurora borealis on display on Friday, May 10th. (Luke Culver, Fox Weather)
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