Solar storms bring colorful northern lights to unexpected places

NEW YORK (AP) — Solar storms brought colorful auroras to unexpected places on Tuesday night, and there could be more to come.

Space weather forecasters confirmed that storms reached severe levels, triggering vibrant northern lights in Europe including Hungary and the United Kingdom. In the U.S., the hues were spotted as far south as Kansas, Colorado and Texas.

There were some impacts to GPS communications and the power grid, Shawn Dahl with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a video posted on X.

The uptick in solar activity forced NASA on Wednesday to postpone the launch of Blue Origin’s new rocket carrying Mars orbiters until conditions improve.

Over the past few days, the sun has burped out several bursts of energy called coronal mass ejections. Two have reached Earth, but at least one more is still on the way and could arrive sometime on Wednesday.

Forecasters think this solar outburst could be the most energetic of the three and have issued a severe storm alert. How bright the auroras are and how far south they are visible will depend on when the burst gets here and how it interacts with Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere.