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.
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Ciro Poppiti has transformed himself into Founding Father Caesar Rodney.
Poppiti is a lawyer, National Guardsman, actor and the elected register of wills in Delaware’s New Castle County — the same office Rodney once held in his county.
On June 12 and 13, Poppiti will ride horseback from Delaware to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, retracing Rodney’s historic 1776 journey that helped secure support for American independence.
Rodney raced through a storm after learning at midnight that he needed to break a tie in Delaware’s delegation on the vote for independence from England.
“You’ve got to get to Philadelphia by three o’clock, four o’clock the next day,” Poppiti said while portraying Rodney. “The gavel is coming in otherwise everything you have done is now destroyed.”
Rodney famously wore a green scarf to hide a cancerous formation on his face.
While Rodney rode horse trails from Dover to Philadelphia, Poppiti’s route will follow modern roads, including Route 13 through Claymont and Delaware County before heading up Passyunk Avenue to Independence Hall.
Poppiti said the ride is taking place in June because the actual anniversary in early July will coincide with World Cup events in Philadelphia.
Well-trained Amish horses and a buggy will accompany the ride to help make the trip safer on busy modern roads.
Rodney remains a controversial figure for some because his family owned slaves on their Kent County farm.
During protests following George Floyd’s death in 2020, Rodney’s statue was removed from Rodney Square in Wilmington. The statue is now displayed in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.
“We have critics, critics who want to damn Caesar Rodney because he had slaves and they should,” Poppiti said. “We embrace those who are critical of Rodney because those who are critical of him are helping us and they’re fulfilling our mission. Our mission is to tell the whole story warts and all and to expose the fact that it was all people of all colors that helped make the greatest upset in world history happen.”
More information about the reenactment ride, including related events such as a gala and concert, is available at 250ride.org.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication.
“I grow old gracefully,” said Susan Young Browne, who just received permission to keep driving until 115 years old.
That’s a testament to Browne enduring aptitude (and attitude) for life; having recently celebrated her 108th Birthday at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover, Delaware.
Browne was in Delaware in 1918 during Segregation where she worked on a farm with her family sans water or electricity. She would eventually attend Delaware State College for Colored Students, today known as Delaware State University, and graduate in 1945, going on to teach in a one-room school house.
Married twice, she enjoys the company of a clan of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Nowadays, she can be found three times a work at the Modern Maturity Center where she enjoys group exercise classes; staying active is a key to that graceful aging she mentioned.
“When I get up in the morning, I have an exercise routine that I’ve been doing for the last 20 years,” she said. “When I retired and I walked around that classroom for 30 years, I am not going to sit down.”
SPRITELY ELDERS:
130 people attended her birthday party, including the Delaware Governor Matt Meyer, where she was gifted a parking spot right in front of the building reserved for those 100 years or older.
That’s important, because as Ms. Browne told those assembled to celebrate her life, the state had just reissued her driver’s license until 2033.
WATCH the story below from CBS News…
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