The sun sure has woken up this week, unleashing a powerful X-class solar flare on Jan. 18 that hurled a colossal, fast-moving coronal mass ejection (CME) directly toward Earth. That CME has now arrived, triggering severe (G4) geomagnetic storm conditions far earlier than initially forecast.

According to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center and NRCan's Canadian Space Weather Forecast Centre, we continue to have G2 to G3 level geomagnetic storms ("stormy" to "major storm" conditions via the CSWFC) throughout the day on Tuesday.

Thanks to a giant eruption on the Sun and a large opening in its atmosphere, we're currently experiencing G4 conditions – a severe geomagnetic storm strong enough to disrupt power grids as energy from space weather disturbances drives electric currents through Earth's magnetic field and the ground.

The sun recently erupted with a potent X-class solar flare, triggering a fast-moving coronal mass ejection (CME) that is predicted to impact Earth within 24 hours.

An X-class solar flare has produced an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, increasing solar activity and raising the likelihood of geomagnetic impacts within 24 hours.

A blistering coronal mass ejection from the Sun raced to Earth in just 25 hours, triggering a severe G4 geomagnetic storm and providing a rare chance to see the northern lights far south of their usual Arctic range.

At times, the sun ejects energetic material into space, which can have consequences for space-based and even ground-based electronic technology. Researchers aim to understand this phenomenon and find ways to forecast it,

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colo., issued a G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm watch for Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025 into the following day. This comes as forecasters watch a pair of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that are anticipated ...