Photos capture Northern Lights over Sacramento and Northern California
Residents across Northern California and the Greater Sacramento region caught a rare glimpse of the Aurora Borealis, commonly known as the Northern Lights, on Tuesday night.
CBS News Sacramento received photos of the northern lights from viewers in Sacramento and Roseville, and as far north as Grass Valley. Other sightings were reported on social media out of other nearby cities, including Dixon, Vacaville, Fairfield and Vallejo.
The light show in the sky comes as a severe geomagnetic storm reaches Earth, one powerful enough to make the Northern Lights visible far south of their usual range.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a G4, or severe, geomagnetic storm watch, warning that strong solar activity could both disrupt Earth's satellite communications and GPS systems on Wednesday and produce vivid auroras across much of the northern half of the United States.
The storm is fueled by a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are massive bursts of plasma from the sun, the latest of which NOAA called "the most energetic and fastest" eruption in recent days.
The Space Weather Prediction Center said the storm could begin impacting Earth around midday Wednesday, though the timing remains uncertain. A second, strong G3-level storm could follow on Thursday. G5 is considered the highest geomagnetic storm level.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center and the University of Alaska, the best chance to see the Northern Lights is between 7 and 10 p.m. PT Tuesday.