FILE PHOTO - Photo taken by Danny Colme near Vernon during a northern lights display in March 2023.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Danny Colme
May 10, 2024 - 6:00 PM
There's a strong chance the northern lights will appear in the sky over Kamloops and the Okanagan tonight, May 10, and as an added bonus very few clouds are in the forecast.
The Space Weather Prediction Centre has issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for the first time since January 2005.
According to the centre’s website, at least five Earth-directed coronal mass ejections from the sun are expected to arrive. Several strong flares were observed this week, associated with a “magnetically complex sunspot cluster which is 16 times the diameter of Earth.”
Coronal mass ejections are bursts of plasma and magnetic field released from the sun’s outer atmosphere. Charged particles can make it into the Earth’s atmosphere through the magnetic poles where they ionize gasses, causing aurora.
READ MORE: Strong solar storm hits Earth, could disrupt communications and produce northern lights
The sun has an 11-year cycle and is nearing peak of solar activity this year.
Viewers in the northern regions of the province have had some light shows but so far sky watchers further south haven’t been so lucky.
The storm is expected to peak tonight between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. The space weather centre suggests finding a place with an obstructed view to the north away from the city lights and an hour or two before midnight.
Environment Canada is forecasting partly cloudy skies overnight in Kamloops and the Okanagan.
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