While they were not visible in the San Francisco Bay Area skies Sunday night, you didn't have to drive too far to see a specular show from the Northern Lights.
A large-scale geomagnetic storm caused by disruptions in Earth's magnetic field was responsible for the heavenly show, but it came with a warning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.
"Power grid fluctuations can occur," the center said."High-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms. Satellite orientation irregularities may occur; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites is possible. high frequency radio propagation can fade at higher latitudes." The center tracker uses the planetary k-index to quantify disturbances in the earth's magnetic field. The index runs from 1 being calm and 5 to 9 indicating a geomagnetic storm.
The k-index value for much of Sunday afternoon and evening hovered between 7 and 8, indicating a storm big enough to push the Northern Lights into lower latitudes than they usually reach.
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