Two years ago: The biggest geomagnetic storm in 20 years

Aurora is not something people usually associate with Connecticut, or at least they didn’t until this event.

On May 10, 2024, the sun blasted us with a gargantuan solar storm, or a giant cloud of plasma and magnetic fields. This resulted in the largest geomagnetic storm on earth in over 20 years, the May 10, 2024 “Gannon” Storm, a maximum G5 on the G-scale. This was caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME) that was launched from the sun. CME’s are responsible for the biggest geomagnetic storms we experience, and are launched when solar flares erupt from active regions of sunspots on the sun.

The geomagnetic disturbance was so extreme that the main auroral band, which typically rests over Northern Canada, was pushed over the Northern United States, and was visible from as far south as the gulf coast. 

For many, myself included, this was the first time seeing aurora. The colors were easily visible to the naked eye, and reached high overhead.Unfortunately, it’s unlikely we’ll see another storm like this for a long time. We are in the declining phase of the solar cycle, which peaked in 2024. This means solar storms will still happen, but not as frequently as in the last couple years.