[Swprograms] Most impressive aurora in 13 years; more ahead?

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Keep an eye on the sky Tuesday evening...Kp already back up to 7

Richard Cuff

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Most impressive aurora in 13 years; more ahead? 
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Tom Skilling, WGN-TV chief meteorologist

November 9, 2004

The dazzling, multicolored northern lights, visible in all but 9 of the Lower 48 states Sunday night and arguably the most impressive here in 13 years, may not be the last of this cycle. While hardly a certainty, a new aurora can't be ruled out over at least parts of the country Tuesday night. The auroral ovals, the swaths of the atmosphere encircling the planet's highest latitudes beneath which auroras are visible, are normally found much farther north--in Canada and Alaska--or south near Antarctica.

NOAA space weather forecaster Michael Weaver says a geomagnetic storm as intense as the one behind Sunday night's aurora occurs on average only 4 times each 11-year solar cycle. While an "M-class" solar flare set off Sunday night's celestial display, a second, more powerful "X-class" flare Sunday afternoon could mean Earth's upper atmosphere may again be showered by charged particles and that auroral displays might reappear Tuesday night, says Triton College astronomer Dan Joyce.

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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.

WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page. 
Copyright (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune
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