BALTIMORE, MD—Skywatchers in Maryland may get a rare treat Wednesday evening as a powerful series of solar eruptions could push the Northern Lights far south of their usual polar confines, potentially making the aurora borealis visible across the mid-Atlantic region.
The spectacle is being driven by multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — massive bursts of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun — that are barreling toward Earth. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have upgraded their alerts, warning of a potential G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm on November 12, with lingering G3 (Strong) effects into November 13.
The activity stems from sunspot region AR4274, which has unleashed a barrage of powerful X-class solar flares in recent days. These include an X1.7 flare on November 9, an X1.2 on November 10, and the strongest of the year so far — an X5.1 blast on November 11 that triggered radio blackouts across parts of Africa and Europe. Each flare launched Earth-directed CMEs, and experts say the faster ones may “cannibalize” slower predecessors, merging into a more potent shockwave upon arrival…