A strong geomagnetic storm hit the Earth

Forecasters did not foresee its approach. On March 23-24, auroras spread in the United States south to New Mexico (+32.8 north latitude) during a strong (category G4- Cr7) geomagnetic storm - the most intense in almost 6 years. The cause of the storm is still unclear.

"The pillars of the aurora were visible from Shenandoah National Park in Central Virginia," says Peter Forister, who photographed the light show at latitude +38.7 degrees.

"The beautiful reds and greens were visible to the naked eye around 11 p.m. local time," he says.

Other notable observations at low latitudes were made in Colorado (+38.7 s.s.), Missouri (+40.2 s.s.), again in Colorado (+38.3 s.s.), Nebraska (+41 s.s.) and North Carolina (+36.2 s.s.). More than half of all The US states were in the zone of the geomagnetic storm.


This strange storm began on March 23, when the magnetic fields in the space around the Earth suddenly shifted. Magnetic fields directed to the south have opened a crack in the Earth's magnetosphere. The Earth's "shields" were turned off for almost 24 hours, which allowed the solar wind to penetrate inside, and the storm reached category G4.