Delaware
Northern lights could be visible in Delaware tonight as ‘severe’ solar storm predicted
Northern lights dance across the night sky
Clear skies allowed an aurora borealis to shimmer green hues across the northern sky in numerous locations overnight April 23 into April 24.
Accuweather
Have you always wanted to see the northern lights but never been able to travel far enough north to catch a glimpse?
There’s a chance they could be visible from Delaware and nearby states Friday night.
Over the last several days, space weather forecasters have been closely monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields, which cause geomagnetic storms.
On Earth, the storms can cause disruptions in communications, the electric power grid, navigation and radio. In space, they can affect satellites.
But the storms can also trigger “spectacular displays” of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. This means the aurora could be seen as far south as Alabama and northern California.
This would also include Delaware.
The last time space weather forecasters issued a severe (G4) geomagnetic storm watch − the second most powerful solar storm classification − was January 2005, though a G4 storm did occur in March of this year.
A G5 storm is the most severe and classified as “extreme.” The last one occurred in October 2003 and caused power outages in Sweden. It also and damaged power transformers in South Africa, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.
When could I see the northern lights?
Timing is not exact, but the time to view the aurora is usually within several hours of midnight, or between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. There can be aurora in the evening and morning, but it is not usually as active, according to NOAA.
During a Friday morning news conference, officials with the space weather prediction center said they will not know the intensity of the storm until the coronal mass ejections reach about a million miles from Earth. They travel at 800 kilometers (497 miles) per second, meaning scientists will have 20 to 45 minutes to determine the intensity before any potential effects are felt or seen.
“Because we’re talking about something (that originates) 93 million miles away, it is extremely difficult to forecast with a very good degree of accuracy,” said Shawn Dahl, a service coordinator with the space weather prediction center.
But, he and others added, if the solar storm does reach the G4 level, sky gazers should look up in the “late evening to post-midnight hours.”
For best viewing, the National Weather Service recommends looking to the north and trying to get away from city lights. The darker the sky, the better for viewing, weather officials say.
While Friday night appears to be the best chance for viewing, the aurora may also be visible Saturday night into Sunday.
Will Friday’s rain affect my potential viewing?
One key requirement to seeing the aurora is clear skies − meaning Friday’s wet weather may hinder potential viewing.
Rain is expected to continue on and off throughout much of the day in Delaware, though radar shows it tapering off around 9 p.m.
WEEKEND WEATHER: Grab your raincoats, Delaware. It’s going to be a dreary weekend with rain, cloudy skies
Still, cloud cover is predicted at: 100% at 10 p.m., 98% at 11 p.m., 98% at midnight, 97% at 1 a.m. and 93% at 2 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
While Delaware will likely have an overnight reprieve from rain, a frontal system developing over the Midwest will cause precipitation to return to the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday with another round of rain and thunderstorms.
The storm will be weaker than Friday’s, however, and severe thunderstorms are not expected, NWS said.
What are the northern lights?
The aurora borealis is a glow produced by electrons that float down to the Earth’s magnetic field from space. The electrons crash with atoms and molecules of the atmosphere in a ring on the Earth’s magnetic pole, according to NOAA.
All that commotion produces multicolor bulbs of light, which can be seen in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively.
Got a story tip or idea? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com. For all things breaking news, follow her on X at @izzihughes_
Delaware
Delaware state police trooper killed in active shooter incident at DMV facility; suspect also dead
This story originally appeared on 6abc.
Delaware state police say a trooper was killed in what officials said was an active shooter situation at a DMV facility in New Castle on Tuesday afternoon.
The suspect in this incident is also dead, Gov. Matt Meyer said.
State police said they are “are continuing to assess additional injuries.” There is no official word yet on the exact number of people injured.
Police say the active shooter incident is now over.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. at the facility on Hessler Boulevard.
No further details have been made available.
Police are asking residents to avoid the area.
Stay with Action News and 6abc.com as this story develops.
Delaware
2 hurt after car crashes into building in Talleyville, Delaware
Two people were hurt after a car crashed into a building in Talleyville, Delaware, Monday morning.
The incident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. along the 100 block of Brandywine Boulevard. Police said a woman was driving a light-colored vehicle when she somehow lost control and crashed through the first floor of a realty company.
A fire station is located across the street from where the crash occurred. Firefighters responded in less than a minute and the driver as well as another person were both taken to the hospital. Investigators told NBC10 both victims suffered minor injuries and are expected to be OK.
Crews removed the vehicle and boarded up the damaged building. They continue to investigate the cause of the crash.
Delaware
Delaware-based dark money group ‘Alabama Patients First’ unleashes TV, digital attack on Blue Cross Blue Shield
A brand-new, out-of-state dark-money group launched an attack on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama over the past week, and has already invested over $320,000 in negative television advertising alone.
During some of this weekend’s largest SEC football matchups, including Alabama vs. Oklahoma, the group ran a shock-style message that is now being pushed to Alabama voters more aggressively than any political campaign could afford to spend on television at this point in the 2026 election cycle.
According to business filings, “Alabama Patients First LLC” was formed in Delaware on December 11. The state is known for its Teflon business privacy laws. LLCs are not required to publicly list their ownership or members, making it an ideal vehicle for dark money to reach its target.
Since its formation, the group has been busy in Alabama.
Using a “Paid for by Alabama Patients First” disclaimer, the group aired television advertisements, launched a website, and directed SMS marketing campaigns directly to voters, igniting a costly media attack against the state’s leading insurer.
“They make a killing off telling you ‘No.’ Blue Cross Blue Shield: ‘No.’ That’s Blue Cross “B*******,” the ad says.
A station-by-station breakdown of the Alabama Patients First TV buy across multiple Montgomery-area outlets, including WSFA, WAKA, WCOV-TV, WNCF, and others, totals $226,071.
The group also spent $102,000 across Birmingham, Huntsville, and Dothan media markets.
The buy spans six weekends, ranging from its first airing on December 14, with a much smaller spend scheduled after January 1, to a wind-down on January 18, 2026.
By comparison, in the Montgomery media market, the group spent $211,633 in December and just $14,438 in January.
In total, the out-of-state group has spent at least $328,071 on pushing the TV spot to Alabama residents.
Alabama Patients First’s TV spend isn’t the whole tab, either. The professional fees required to deploy such an operation likely reach into the millions – and the timing is striking.
The attack on Alabama began the same week that Jackson Hospital and Clinic, Inc. initiated a high-visibility litigation campaign against BCBS of Alabama.
Jackson Hospital and its lender, Atlanta-based Jackson Investment Group, are on the clock for a December 31, 2025 bankruptcy court deadline to secure $100 million in public funding, which would help satisfy a debtor-in-possession (DIP) agreement the two signed earlier this year.
Yellowhammer News requested information from officials at Jackson Investment Group, Jackson Healthcare, and Jackson Hospital to confirm or deny a connection between the hospital’s lending relationship and the creation of Alabama Patients First.
At the time of publication, those requests went unanswered.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama did respond to the negative ad blitz in a statement on Monday afternoon.
“The ads are an intentional misrepresentation of how we do business,” Sophie Martin, Director of Corporate Communications for BCBS of Alabama, said.
“Based on the timing of the ads, we believe they are nothing more than an improper attempt by Jackson’s investor-lender to improperly influence litigation.”
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
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