A geometric storm gave us last night's northern lights show. Watch for another tonight
Across the Lower Hudson Valley, and the country, people were treated to a rare look at the northern lights on Friday night into Saturday morning.
A powerful solar storm produced a spectacular light show, with streaks of purples, greens, pinks and whites lighting up the sky.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a "very rare" geomagnetic storm watch for Saturday and said it was likely that geomagnetic storming would continue through at least Sunday.
So the lights could be visible Saturday and Sunday nights, as well, weather permitting.
What's happening? The federal agency explains that a sunspot cluster that is 16 times wider than Earth is unleashing bursts of radiation toward the Earth. These solar flares, or "powerful bursts of energy," can disrupt communications, power grids and navigation signals, NOAA said.
"There have been reports of power grid irregularities and degradation to high-frequency communications and GPS," the NOAA said.
The last time a geomagnetic storm of this strength blasted toward Earth was in 2003, the NOAA said.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New York saw northern lights thanks to geomagnetic storm
