Rare Solar Storm Ignite Northern Lights Over the Comstock

A rare and powerful solar storm glorified the skies over the Comstock on Friday, May 10, treating people to an extraordinary display of the northern lights, or aurora borealis.

Virginia City resident Mckensie Greenwalt said she was amazed by the sight.

“I’m a born and raised northern Nevadan.” she said. “I’ve wanted to see the aurora borealis for a long time, but never did I think I’d see them from my front yard. We sure are lucky.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch on Thursday, May 9, marking the first such alert since 2005. The storm, triggered by a series of solar flares and eruptions from the Sun, created severe geomagnetic storms and led to auroras throughout the weekend.

Forecasters anticipated the storm’s arrival as early as 11 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, even though the exact timing remained uncertain given the distance of approximately 93 million miles between the Sun and Earth. However, to enhance accuracy, NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft stationed about one million miles from Earth aided in measuring the solar wind, helping predict the storm’s timing and impacts.

The northern lights result from charged particles emitted by the Sun during solar storms. The particles interact with Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, creating luminous displays primarily observed at higher latitudes.

Since Wednesday morning, May 8, the Space Weather Prediction Center detected several “moderate to strong” solar flares, each accompanied by coronal mass ejections directed toward Earth. The eruptions, prolonged by geomagnetic storm conditions, cause the southern viewing throughout the weekend.

While the mesmerizing auroras offer celestial splendor, geomagnetic storms can pose risks to power grids and satellites. Notably, a geomagnetic storm in 1989 left approximately six million people in Montreal without power for nine hours, and in 2002, a coronal mass ejection disrupted 38 commercial satellites.

As scientists monitor the Sun’s 11-year activity cycles, the current cycle, initiated in late 2019, is anticipated to peak with maximum activity in July 2025, according to NOAA and NASA.