On these past Friday and Saturday nights, Sioux Falls experienced a stunning display of the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights. It was best seen outside city limits without the distraction of light, but in some parts of the city, the lights were visible within the walls of Sioux Falls.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on Friday, a severe geomagnetic storm watch was issued by the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. The event was extremely rare and is the first one of its kind issued in over 20 years. This geomagnetic storm was caused by explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona. The storm triggered spectacular displays of northern lights that could be seen across the Midwest and upper United States. However, the NOAA claims that the display of lights could be seen in states all the way down to Alabama and even Northern California.
According to CBS News, the solar event could mean danger for voltage control, protective system problems could arise, transformers have the possibility of becoming damaged, radio systems may be disrupted, satellite navigation could break down and even some grid systems could collapse or have a total blackout. The last time an event of this magnitude occurred was in 2003; South Africa was met with damaged transformers and Sweden dealt with major power outages. Even with the foreseeable dangers that came with this geomagnetic storm, the chance to experience the northern lights firsthand was one many refused to give up.
Though the northern lights were spotted in South Dakota two nights in a row, the experiences differed greatly. It was reported by those who watched the light show that Friday’s display contained more blue, purple and green tones, but Saturday’s performance was more centered on the color pink. This display of northern lights was a rare event, but even more so for the Midwest and other parts of America located farther south due to their distance from the North Pole.
“This is an unusual event and potentially historic event,” said Clinton Wallace, Director of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
