FYI: Northern US states may witness aurora borealis tonight...

[Earth_First]

From Seattle to Boulder to Cleveland and Maine, northern residents may bear witness to the aurora event tonight.

Best viewing time is around midnight EST.

Bundle up and enjoy!

[postulater]

1. Fingers crossed. but cloudy right now.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Nice of you to include Cleveland

but there are clouds dumping wet snow presently, and I sincerely doubt they'll scatter by midnight

[Packerowner740]

3. And here I am stuck in Texas

One of these days I ll get to Alaska

[dhill926]

4. saw them in northern Michigan....

about 10 or so years ago. Lasted a looong time. Just incredible...

[Baclava]

5. ‘White Knuckle Time’ for Radiation Hurtling From the Sun

CME’s occur when “the fluctuations of the sun’s magnetic fields cause a large portion of the surface of the sun to expand rapidly, ejecting billions of tons of particles out into space [and producing] a magnetic shockwave that extends billions of miles out into space. If Earth is in the path of that shockwave, our planet’s magnetic field will react to the event.”

“The radiation blast has prompted some airlines to change aircraft routes,” says Kunches. “They are changing their flight plan to ensure continuous communications, i.e., not flying polar but rather more southerly routes.”

When the CME hits, the Earth’s magnetic field will be disturbed: high-frequency radio, GPS applications, airline routes, possible power grid transients may be affected during the geomagnetic storm.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2014/01/white-knuckle-time-for-radiation-hurtling-from-the-sun/