A severe geomagnetic storm could cause radio outages as Milton hits Florida

A “severe” geomagnetic storm is forecast by Friday, and officials warn communications could be affected across the country. Due to the severity of the storm, the Northern Lights could be seen as far south as Alabama.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) said the severe geomagnetic storm (G4) could impact the power grid, as well as cause GPS and radio outages and impact satellites.

“Possible widespread voltage control problems and some protection systems could result in essential equipment being accidentally disconnected from the power grid,” the SWPC said on Wednesday.

The SWPC also added that systems on satellites in low-Earth orbit could be subject to surface charging and increased drag, and that various spacecraft could experience tracking and orientation problems.

“Satellite navigation (GPS) was impaired or inoperable for hours,” the SWPC warned. “Radio – HF (radio frequency) radio propagation sporadic or interrupted.”

This severe geomagnetic storm is predicted to occur at the same time that Hurricane Milton is expected to hit Florida. While the SWPC has not indicated whether satellite problems could hamper hurricane monitoring, radio outages are expected.

Northern Lights Prediction

The SWPC noted that a G4 or higher was forecast by Friday. The SWPC rates solar storms a five-point scalewith five being the most extreme and rare space weather conditions.

The Northern Lights are forecast to reach across Alabama and into Northern California.

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These stronger geomagnetic storms are less common than G1 or G2 events. However, Earth experienced near-global auroras in Mayeven as far south as Florida, when an “extreme” (G5) geomagnetic storm occurred due to two sets of extremely active sunspots.