The Sun seems to be in a happy mood: A strong geomagnetic storm watch is in place for the next day, increasing the chances of auroras—the Northern Lights show—on New Year’s Eve.
The National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a storm watch for Dec. 31, based on a major coronal mass ejection—an explosion in the Sun’s atmosphere—that occurred on Dec. 29. The New Year’s Eve storm watch is rated G3. a strong storm. According to the SWPC, strong storms can disrupt spacecraft and cause problems with GPS and low-frequency radio navigation systems. Auroras are forecast for “many northern states and some in the lower Midwest into Oregon,” according to the warning. But don’t let that discourage you if you’re far south; space meteorologists say new phone camera technology can pick up lights even when your eyes can’t see them. So even if the aurora is not expected in your area, it doesn’t hurt to try to capture it.
Auroras occur when charged particles from the Sun interact with Earth’s magnetic field, causing gases in our planet’s atmosphere to glow. When solar activity is extreme—that is, when our host star throws material into space in solar flares—it causes brilliant auroras, sometimes surprisingly close to the equator.
The Sun goes through an 11-year solar cycle, during which the atmospheric climate is often at its strongest. There are about 200 G3 geomagnetic storms per solar cycle, and the Sun is somewhere near its maximum now, which is why there have been few significant geomagnetic storms this year. In May, Earth experienced the strongest geomagnetic storm to hit the planet in 20 years, which sent auroras across the sky as far away as Florida and Texas.
The SWPC also announced two severe blackout events on Monday due to the flare-up in the Sun. The effects of the flares could include signal loss on high-level communication bands on Earth day, the warning noted, although the associated coronal mass ejection “was determined not to have an Earth-directed component.”
Alongside the G3 hurricane watch is a G1 (or lesser) hurricane watch in place for New Year’s Day, with that warning possibly upgraded to a G2 hurricane watch. Space weather researchers cannot measure exact levels of geomagnetic disturbances until the Sun’s charged particles are within 1 million miles (1.61 million km) of Earth, or about 30-60 minutes from landing on Earth. “Neither CME is expected to be a direct impact,” according to the storm watch notice, “which also makes prediction of intensity very difficult.”
Auroras are best viewed over clear skies away from prominent light sources. In other words, if you’re trying to catch the World’s natural light show, you’d better do it away from the New Year’s Eve artificial light shows. We’ve got you covered in 2025 for another powerful year under our exploding star.
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