Northern lights alert upgraded for 25 states Thursday as G3 storm nears
Aurora chances rose across 25 states as NOAA warned three solar eruptions could drive a G3 storm with visibility into Thursday night.
Northern lights could push far enough south to reach 25 states as NOAA upgraded its geomagnetic storm watch and said three coronal mass ejections were headed for Earth. The strongest window was expected after a combined CME arrival around mid-afternoon EDT on June 4, with G3 levels possible into the evening and overnight.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said a Strong Geomagnetic Storm watch was in effect for 04-05 June UTC, and its aurora dashboard flagged G3 conditions for June 4 and June 5, 2026. The agency’s three-day forecast put the greatest expected 3-hour Kp index at 7.00, the threshold for a G3 storm. In practical terms, that meant the best chances for a rare display came after dark, especially under clear skies and away from city lights. New England was among the best-positioned regions, with Vermont, New York and New Hampshire specifically listed for Thursday night visibility.
The event was unusually strong because the Sun was firing more than one blast toward Earth at once. NOAA said three CMEs were expected to interact with the planet, and that kind of stacked arrival can intensify geomagnetic effects. The forecast also came after a burst of solar activity from Region 4455, including an R2 radio blackout on June 3 after an M9.5 flare, and R1 conditions on June 2 from M-class flares involving Regions 4461 and 4455. Earlier outlooks had pointed to the most intense aurora potential on Friday, but the updated forecast moved more of the action into Thursday.
A G3 storm is not the category that threatens the grid in the way a top-end event can, but it can still disturb GPS, low-frequency navigation and HF radio links, with possible effects on satellites, communications and power systems. NOAA said watches are typically issued 1 to 3 days ahead for geomagnetic storm events at G1 through G4 or higher, giving operators time to prepare. SpaceWeather.com noted that similar storms have produced naked-eye auroras in more than 25 U.S. states, while NASA and NOAA still point to the May 10-11, 2024 storm as the strongest in over two decades, a G5 event that pushed auroras to unusually low latitudes.
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