PARK CITY, Utah — If you’ve been looking for an excuse to step outside and scan the northern horizon, tonight might deliver it.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm watch for the Jan. 20 UTC day, tied to an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection launched from the sun on Jan. 18. NOAA said the CME could arrive as early as late Jan. 19 Eastern time, with storm levels initially ranging from minor to strong before potentially intensifying.
Space.com reported the incoming CME could push auroras unusually far south and that NOAA forecasters expect conditions capable of producing northern lights visibility in 24 states, with the forecast “view line” extending as far south as Colorado…