Early morning commuters, dog walkers and joggers in Anchorage, Alaska looked up Tuesday to find streaks of green and red light shimmering across the sky as an intense geomagnetic storm produced one of the season’s most vivid aurora displays. The light show stretched far beyond Alaska, reaching San Francisco, Chicago, Canada and countries across Europe, the Associated Press reported.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center attributed the displays to intense geomagnetic and solar radiation storms. The event follows a period of elevated solar activity that has repeatedly pushed aurora visibility far south of its typical range.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Early morning commuters, dog walkers and joggers in Anchorage looked up Tuesday to find streaks of green and red light shimmering across the sky as an intense geomagnetic storm produced one of the season’s most vivid aurora displays, the Associated Press reported.
Anchorage was not alone. The aurora’s reach overnight Monday and into Tuesday was wide, with social media carrying photos from Alaska, San Francisco, Chicago, Canada and countries across Europe, according to the AP.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center attributed the displays to intense geomagnetic and solar radiation storms, the AP reported.
The event is the latest in a sustained period of elevated solar activity. Solar storms in November brought vivid auroras to parts of Europe — including Hungary and the United Kingdom — and as far south as Texas, according to the AP.