South Africans may witness rare southern lights after solar storm

NATIONAL NEWS - Parts of South Africa could witness the Aurora Australis, or southern lights, lighting up the sky tonight.

Zululand Observer reports that this comes after a coronal mass ejection struck Earth’s magnetic field yesterday morning.

According to Snow News, this solar impact triggered strong (G3) to severe (G4) geomagnetic storms.

The northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, were seen as far south as California and Carolina in the USA, while Australians enjoyed the southern lights spectacle yesterday.

Reports indicate conditions are favourable for certain areas in South Africa to catch a glimpse of this rare celestial event.

As noted by Capetownetc.com, forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA) and the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia) suggest G4-level storms are expected to persist until Wednesday morning, with potential escalation to G5 – the most intense level.

While South Africans in the far south are most likely to watch the spectacle, some KZN residents were lucky enough to witness it last year.

That display was reportedly due to a ‘historic’ G5 geomagnetic storm – the most powerful since 2003 – caused by multiple coronal mass ejections from the sun.

Aurora Australis as seen and photographed in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. Photo: Peter Em/Aurora Australis/Facebook