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A powerful, three-day solar storm is expected to hit Earth today, which could cause “fluctuations in the power grid”, experts have warned.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) noted that a geomagnetic storm, a major disturbance in Earth’s magnetosphere, could disrupt satellite orbits, cause radio outages and push spectacular displays of the northern lights as far south as New York.

The impending storm is due to an active sunspot that has unleashed at least 18 flares this week.

This is the same area that ejected a powerful stream of plasmacalled a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), earlier this month that disrupted communications around the world.

The sunspot has completed a full rotation of the sun, spinning back toward Earth for what appears to be a few more active days.

The event is just one harbinger of high-impact solar weather to come as the sun reaches its “solar maximum”, astrophysicists told DailyMail.com, the most energetic point in its repeating 11-year solar cycle, next summer in July 2025 .

Category G2 or “moderate” solar storms are expected for Friday and Saturday, following today’s lighter events, according to NOAA, which runs the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center.

The “zone of impact” is likely to extend from the Earth’s poles to 55 degrees “geomagnetic latitude” – a region that includes the northern parts of Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Vermont.

While this puts these regions of the continental US at some level of risk from voltage problems in local power systems and RF outages, there will also be benefits.

The beautiful aerial phenomenon known as the aurora borealis, or northern lights, will also be visible in these regions, depending on local cloud conditions.

“The aurora can be seen as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington State,” NOAA’s latest space weather advisory said.

The upcoming solar storm on Friday and Saturday produced by the X1.4 solar flare CME (pictured, left of center above) ejected from Sunspot AR3697 yesterday. The eruption’s CME has already caused “strong radio blackouts” over the mid-Atlantic region, according to EarthSky

Sunspot AR3664, now renamed AR3697, has reached a size that now rivals the sunspot responsible for the infamous Carrington Event of 1895 – which ignited telegraph cables, disrupting international communications

Sky watchers living in these areas may want to snap a few photos even if they can’t see this charged plasma light show in Earth’s upper magnetosphere, according to meteorologist Bob Henson, especially if they have a newer iPhone model.

“Some cameras (including newer iPhones) are sensitive enough to provide a stunning auroral photo even when the aurora is almost or completely invisible to the naked eye,” Henson published to social site X earlier this month.

Although this weekend’s solar storm is expected to be less intense than ‘extreme (G5) geomagnetic conditions‘ of the powerful CMEs that hit Earth from May 10 to 13, more can be expected as the sun approaches its most violent phase of its cycle.

“We could easily get much bigger storms in the next year or two,” Dr Jonathan McDowell of the Smithsonian and Harvard Center for Astrophysics told DailyMail.com earlier this month.

Sunspot AR3664, now renamed AR3697, is the disturbance on the sun’s surface that was responsible for the largest G5 solar storms this May, and is larger than the sunspot that produced the infamous Carrington event of 1859.

Storm Carrington set fire to telegraph cables, disrupted communications around the world, and even damaged ships’ compasses—a story that could repeat itself, wreaking havoc on modern technology if Earth were to face direct hits from these larger solar storms.

The sunspot has completed a full rotation of the sun, spinning back toward Earth for what appears to be several more active days.

“This is definitely a scary time for satellite operators,” Dr McDowell said.

In recent years, it has been shown that large geomagnetic storms can destroy satellites by causing them to collide with other objects in space.

A 2022 geomagnetic storm, the last major storm before this May, destroyed up to 40 Starlink satellites worth more than $50 million, according to the company.

Friday and Saturday’s upcoming solar storm, produced by the X1.4 solar flare CME ejected from Sunspot AR3697 yesterday, has already caused “strong radio blackouts” over the mid-Atlantic region, according to EarthSky.

WHAT IS THE SOLAR CYCLE?

The Sun is a huge ball of electrically charged hot gas that moves, generating a powerful magnetic field.

This magnetic field goes through a cycle called the solar cycle.

Every 11 years or so, the Sun’s magnetic field completely reverses, meaning that the Sun’s north and south poles switch places.

The solar cycle affects activity on the Sun’s surface, such as sunspots caused by the Sun’s magnetic fields.

Every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic field reverses, meaning that the Sun’s north and south poles switch places. The solar cycle affects the activity of the surface of the Sun, increasing the number of sunspots during stronger (2001) phases than weaker (1996/2006)

One way to track the solar cycle is by counting the number of sunspots.

The beginning of the solar cycle is solar minimum, or when the Sun has the fewest sunspots. Over time, solar activity – and the number of sunspots – increases.

The middle of the solar cycle is solar maximum, or when the Sun has the most sunspots.

When the cycle ends, it fades back to solar minimum and then begins a new cycle.

Giant eruptions on the Sun, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, also increase during the solar cycle.

These eruptions send powerful bursts of energy and material into space that can have an impact on Earth.

For example, eruptions can cause lights in the sky called auroras or affect radio communications and electrical grids on Earth.