Northern lights dance across CSRA – and it may happen again tonight

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – An unusually strong solar storm hit Earth on Friday night, producing spectacular northern lights across the CSRA and the country at large.

The U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center says a rare “extreme” geomagnetic storm is occurring, causing the northern lights generated by the aurora borealis to penetrate much farther south than normal.

That included Friday night across the CSRA.

Viewers have sent us hundreds of photos of the rare sight. Take a look:

The Space Weather Prediction Center ranks geomagnetic storms on a scale from G-1 (minor) to G-5 (extreme).

Conditions peaked in the G-5 category for a brief time Friday night, causing the northern lights to be visible as far south as Florida.

The scene was quite impressive across Georgia and South Carolina as you will see in the video above.

The center says these conditions are possible again Saturday night, so if you missed it last night, look to the north tonight between 10 p.m. and around 2 a.m., and you may be lucky enough to see those vivid pink and green hues in the skies again.

It will really depend on whether observed geomagnetic storm conditions can reach G-4 or G-5 again tonight.

To track this weekend’s conditions, be sure to bookmark this page for the latest observations from the Space Weather Prediction Center.

“That’s really the gift from space weather — the aurora,” said Rob Steenburgh, a scientist with NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

He and his colleagues said the best aurora views may come from phone cameras, which are better at capturing light than the naked eye.

Snap a picture of the sky and “there might be actually a nice little treat there for you,” said Mike Bettwy, operations chief for the center.

The most intense solar storm in recorded history was in 1859. It prompted auroras in Central America and possibly even Hawaii.

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