NOAA: A solar storm is approaching, potentially producing auroras and affecting communications, GPS systems and power supplies

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Colorful auroras could be visible Thursday evening in areas of the United States such as Alabama and northern California – much farther south than they normally appear – due to a powerful solar flare and a coronal mass ejection emanating from the Sun, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center .

The severe solar storm, rated as Level 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, could also disrupt communications, the power grid and satellite operations, according to center officials.

The storm is expected to make landfall between early morning and 12 p.m. ET on Thursday and possibly last into Friday.

The intensity and full characteristics of the storm, which is moving toward Earth at more than 2.5 million miles per hour (about 4 million kilometers per hour), will not be known until it reaches the Deep Space Climate Observatory and the Advanced Composition Explorer -Satellites that orbit 1 million miles from Earth.

The satellites will measure the speed and magnetic intensity of the storm, which is expected to reach Earth 15 to 30 minutes after it reaches space observatories, Shawn Dahl, service coordinator for the Space Weather Prediction Center, said at a news conference Wednesday.

A series of the most intense types of solar flares, called X-class flares, have emanated from the sun this week. The flares also coincided with coronal mass ejections on Tuesday.

Coronal mass ejections are large clouds of ionized gas, called plasma and magnetic fields, that erupt from the Sun's outer atmosphere. When directed toward Earth, these outbursts can cause geomagnetic storms or major disruptions to the Earth's magnetic field.

“Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in low Earth orbit and on the Earth’s surface,” according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.

As a result, the center has notified the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the North American power grid and satellite operators to prepare for disruptions, particularly given the scope of preparations and expected relief efforts for Hurricane Milton, Dahl said.

Historically, G4 storms are common during a solar cycle, but G5 or extreme geomagnetic storms like the one on May 10 are incredibly rare, Dahl said. This is new Sturm has a 25 percent chance of becoming a G5, he said.

As the sun approaches its solar maximum – the peak of its 11-year cycle, expected this year – it becomes more active and researchers have observed increasingly intense solar flares erupting from the fiery orb.

Increased solar activity results in northern lights that dance around the Earth's poles and are known as the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis and the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis. When the energetic particles from coronal mass ejections reach Earth's magnetic field, they interact with gases in the atmosphere, producing different colored lights in the sky.

Currently, scientists at the prediction center say visible aurorae are likely to occur in the central eastern states and the lower Midwest, but it remains to be seen whether the storm will cause a global aurora phenomenon like the one seen at the G5 summit in May was, said Dahl. However, if the storm escalates into a G5 storm, auroras could be visible in the southern states and elsewhere around the world.

Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recommend using the center's Aurora dashboard to find out whether the Northern and Southern Lights are likely to be visible in your area. The dashboard is constantly updated and can show where an aurora might appear within minutes of the information becoming available.

The chances of seeing the Northern Lights have also increased dramatically as darkness falls earlier this time of year. Sky watchers in the U.S. who watched auroras caused by a G3 storm over the weekend experienced the northern lights within an hour or two of dusk, Dahl said.

And even if the colorful displays aren't visible to the naked eye, sensors in cameras and cell phone cameras can detect them, center officials said.

NOAA scientists do not believe this week's storm will surpass the one in May. Previously, the last G5 storm hit the earth in 2003, causing power outages in Sweden and damage to power transformers in South Africa.

During the geomagnetic storm in May, tractor maker John Deere reported that some customers who rely on GPS for precision farming experienced disruptions. But in most cases, the power grid and satellite operators ensured that the satellites remained in orbit in good working order and managed the buildup of strong geomagnetic currents in the grid systems.

The May solar storm was the most successfully contained space weather storm in history, Dahl said.

Scientists continue to monitor increasing peaks in solar activity as they could indicate where the Sun is currently in its cycle.

The speed of Tuesday's coronal mass ejection surprised scientists at the center because it was the fastest recorded so far this solar cycle, Dahl said. But that doesn't mean that the peak of solar activity has been reached right now. Previous solar cycles have shown that some of the largest storms could occur after the peak, he said.

“We are currently in the middle of solar maximum; We just don’t know if we’ve reached the peak yet,” said Dahl. “That would be decided later and could be either sometime this year or even early next year. The bottom line is that solar cycle activity awaits us this year, as well as next year and even into early 2026.”