Solar Flare to Produce Spectacular Northern Lights

An Earth-Directed coronal mass ejection (CME) occurred during the early morning hours Friday.

The resulting solar flare was pointed directly at the United States for a duration of nearly two hours, according to Hunter Outten. Outten is a contributing forecaster for the AccuWeather Astronomy page.

"The CME is pretty strong and is coming pretty quick," said Outten. An intense Northern Lights show will cover a large part of the northern U.S.

According to NOAA, the geomagnetic storm that will produce the northern lights will arrive late on Saturday and be a minor storm. The geomagnetic storm on Sunday is rated as moderate. The more intense the storm is, the better chance it will be for the Northern Lights to appear.

"This geomagnetic storm may disrupt communications, such as satellite television and G.P.S. units," said Outten.

[link to www.accuweather.com]