CLEVELAND — The sun burped on Valentine's Day. That is, it produced what is know as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) or Solar Flare.
And it was a BIG one too! It's a G2 Class MODERATE Solar Flare. This massive energy burst reached the Earth's atmosphere Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.
So now, that energy will be funneled to the North Pole where is will interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms to produce the amazing colors that we know as the Aurora Borealis.
This particular CME is strong enough to disrupt power grids, satellite signals and perhaps even cell phone reception thru Saturday night. This energy burst is also strong enough to produce Auroras that might be seen as far south as Ohio.
Unfortunately, its very difficult to predict exactly WHEN these lights will occur. The best chance to see an aurora here in Northern Ohio will be tonight and again Saturday night. And the weather may cooperate.
Skies are expected to clear out across most of the area tonight and remain partly cloudy Saturday evening before clouds return toward midnight/early Sunday morning.
So keep your eyes trained on the northern sky!
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