I am not an expert, but it’s worth noting that the kp index has a maximum value of 9. So though the Carrington event had a kp of 9, its intensity on the related (but not capped) HP30/HP60 scale [1] would likely have been higher.
[1] https://kp.gfz.de/en/hp30-hp60
We had intense aurora in Berlin, Germany. Green clouds dancing in the sky levels. Started around 22:10 local time or a bit earlier, and at this point there's only a faint red/green glow remaining.
Just spend an hour outsite (Northern Germany, 01:00 MET). Unfortunately nothing to report, neither visual nor on camera.
Maybe I just went to late and missed the show.
I hope you habe more luck in Canada and the US!
Friends who live in Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain could see it pretty well. I'm a bit further south within Berlin where skies are minimally darker, but between 10pm and 11pm it was so bright that light pollution didn't matter.
Funnily enough, despite having lots of alerts set up it was my mom who texted me from northern Brandenburg as she spotted it after getting an alert from RegenRadar, of all apps...
And up at the top right, left to "Latest" you can skip the time back and forth at 10 minute intervals. And then jump back like 10 images, what a beauty.
I had the most intensely coloured lights visible in the west of Ireland. I've seen them a few times before but never like this. Phones were capturing them in video not just long exposures.
Not sure what the best service is to be alerted ahead of time. Apparently it'll be strong here again at 6am according to some of the apps some random people were waving around.
There are several apps that do a good job of alerting users. I use "Aurora Pro", which I prefer because it checks cloud cover and lets you set alert thresholds based on viewing probability.
PJM had some geomagnetic disturbance warnings, but did not progress to the alert stage or grid re-configuation actions. So, no US power grid problems.
104955 Warning Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning 01.19.2026 14:30
PJM-RTO
A Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning has been issued for
14:30 on 01.19.2026 through 16:00 on 01.19.2026 .
A GMD warning of K8 or greater is in effect for this period.
End time: 01.19.2026 16:00
(All times are prevailing Eastern US time)
I've posted on this before, for other warnings. Not going to repeat that.
Worth noting that Kp, which many talk about in discussions online, is more or less useless for anyone in Australia or the southern hemisphere. Lots of beginner Aurora chasers here get tripped up by that.
What is useful is KAus and the G index, KAus is shown on this page, so thats what i'll be tracking.
Although everyone is interested in visible aurora, the proton flux is also really impressive. It peaked at 37,000 pfu at 1910Z. The highest ever recorded was 43,500 pfu in March 1991.
This page looks like an accessibility nightmare. The entire warning text is an image. There is no transcription present for screen reader users. I did not expect this from a government website.
Local light pollution normally makes it hard to see with anything short of long exposure, but today it was naked eye visible and regular photos also captured it.
Pray for clear skies and go out and watch the beautiful aurora, silly!
Depending on the kids' ages, you can teach them quite a lot about the Earth's magnetic field and why the aurora concentrates at the poles, how the high-energy particles light up the sky (it's a lot like a neon light), and how the atmosphere shields us from any danger despite the spectacular show.
There's not that much they can do. It's often discussed that if the extreme August 1972 solar storm had overlapped with an Apollo mission (it didn't), it would have acutely sickened the astronauts.
> "Had a mission been taking place during August, those inside the Apollo command module would have been shielded from 90% of the incoming radiation. However, this reduced dose could still have caused acute radiation sickness if the astronauts were located outside the protective magnetic field of Earth, which was the case for much of a lunar mission. An astronaut engaged in EVA in orbit or on a moonwalk could have experienced severe radiation poisoning, or even absorbed a potentially lethal dose."
The Orion capsule's contingency plan looks something like this:
> "To protect themselves, astronauts will position themselves in the central part of the crew module largely reserved for storing items they’ll need during flight and create a shelter using the stowage bags on board. The method protects the crew by increasing mass directly surrounding them, and therefore making a denser environment that solar particles would have to travel through, while not adding mass to the crew module itself."
Unless you're in space, a large scale electrical operator, or relying on HF radio there isn't much reason to be interested other than the lights for a G4 (what this is currently classed as).
Up to G-5 possibly. Cell phone visible in dark areas throughout most of CONUS.
It was mentioned that air travel ionizing radiation exposure increases during geomagnetic storms. I'd consider pausing travel for a couple of days to not be a guinea pig because there's not enough data to consider it safe. If anyone absolutely must fly tonight, it'd be interesting if they were to take a high sensitivity dosimeter to see what happens.
I'll be going out tonight if this continues into Australian night time hours.
At this strength, I could see the full display including colors with my naked eye in Melbourne, May 11th 2024. This storm is slightly stronger than that event.
The peak was originally supposed to be 6-7 hours from now... it's still showing KP 8 here though, so I'm not sure what's going on. It could get more intense.
If anyone is interested in what "G4" means in context, here's the scale: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation
We are at kp 8.67. The Carrington event was a kp 9
I am not an expert, but it’s worth noting that the kp index has a maximum value of 9. So though the Carrington event had a kp of 9, its intensity on the related (but not capped) HP30/HP60 scale [1] would likely have been higher. [1] https://kp.gfz.de/en/hp30-hp60
Queue Chernobyl documentary clip measuring the radiation as low because that’s as high the meter went
3.6 roentgen. Not great, not terrible!
G4: " Induced pipeline currents affect preventive measures, HF radio propagation sporadic..."
G5: " Pipeline currents can reach hundreds of amps, HF (high frequency) radio propagation may be impossible in many areas for one to two days..."
Looks like we get these for about 60 days for periods lasting 11 years.
so more of a 'bad storm here and there' level?
We had intense aurora in Berlin, Germany. Green clouds dancing in the sky levels. Started around 22:10 local time or a bit earlier, and at this point there's only a faint red/green glow remaining.
Yeah, there were auroras even as far south as Munich. Maybe not as intense, but it's the first aurora I ever saw, so I can't really judge...
I am south-west of Munich and with a perfect clear sky I could only see stars, one meteor, and that's it.
Just spend an hour outsite (Northern Germany, 01:00 MET). Unfortunately nothing to report, neither visual nor on camera. Maybe I just went to late and missed the show. I hope you habe more luck in Canada and the US!
It's pretty subtle right now here in NL but I can still see it with the naked eye. Mostly greenish haze that fades in and out.
I was just out at a dog park and saw nothing! We have clear skies. I can't believe I missed this.
Could you see it from the inner city or only closer to the edges?
Friends who live in Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain could see it pretty well. I'm a bit further south within Berlin where skies are minimally darker, but between 10pm and 11pm it was so bright that light pollution didn't matter.
Funnily enough, despite having lots of alerts set up it was my mom who texted me from northern Brandenburg as she spotted it after getting an alert from RegenRadar, of all apps...
Also seen in the Netherlands!
Nice, you can already see some solar flares in Austria again.
https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/kleinfleisskees/
https://www.foto-webcam.eu/
Oh wow! https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/20/0000
And up at the top right, left to "Latest" you can skip the time back and forth at 10 minute intervals. And then jump back like 10 images, what a beauty.
You can even see Starlink satellites https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/19/1820
Possibly the most brilliant are around:
- https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/19/2230
- https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/19/2240
Incredible, thanks so much!
Those images around 19:00 are amazing. Thanks for sharing.
I had the most intensely coloured lights visible in the west of Ireland. I've seen them a few times before but never like this. Phones were capturing them in video not just long exposures.
Not sure what the best service is to be alerted ahead of time. Apparently it'll be strong here again at 6am according to some of the apps some random people were waving around.
There are several apps that do a good job of alerting users. I use "Aurora Pro", which I prefer because it checks cloud cover and lets you set alert thresholds based on viewing probability.
I woke up to a notification from aurora pro today, I'd forgotten I had the app. This would explain it
Title says "S4" solar radiation event, but the linked page says "G4" geomagnetic storm
PJM had some geomagnetic disturbance warnings, but did not progress to the alert stage or grid re-configuation actions. So, no US power grid problems.
(All times are prevailing Eastern US time)I've posted on this before, for other warnings. Not going to repeat that.
Thank you, that's a really handy resource. Shared with my prepper friends.
https://emergencyprocedures.pjm.com/ep/pages/dashboard.jsf
Discussion of the event https://community.spaceweatherlive.com/topic/4210-x19-cme/
How rare is this?
G4 storms are ~100 per solar cycle (~11 years).
So roughly 9 G4 events/year on average.
Like 20-25 years rare according to some space weather youtuber.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology advisory for visible aurora: https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Aurora
Worth noting that Kp, which many talk about in discussions online, is more or less useless for anyone in Australia or the southern hemisphere. Lots of beginner Aurora chasers here get tripped up by that.
What is useful is KAus and the G index, KAus is shown on this page, so thats what i'll be tracking.
Are there any resources to track Aurora sightings or predicted sightings?
At the bottom right of that page is a subscribe link, with a number of different alerts and lists to subscribe to.
Is that tonight or last night?
It was only issued this morning Australian time, so I presume it's for tonight.
Moon should be good too to see Aurora tonight: waxing crescent 1% https://www.moongiant.com/phase/today/
Although everyone is interested in visible aurora, the proton flux is also really impressive. It peaked at 37,000 pfu at 1910Z. The highest ever recorded was 43,500 pfu in March 1991.
There is a video update from the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. (I could only find this on Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/reel/1190509063198524
This page looks like an accessibility nightmare. The entire warning text is an image. There is no transcription present for screen reader users. I did not expect this from a government website.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-exper... is better
Looking at the aspect ratio (and working in a bank) it's worse than that. That's a powerpoint slide.
Not like someone with poor vision is going to be able to see the aurora borealis that results
/s
Do you need long exposure to make it visible with a camera? How does that work in the presence of light pollution?
Tonight I could see the colours without the camera but it definitely stands out more with the long exposure of the camera.
Even with lights in the direct line of the shot you you can get good results - presumably the phone is doing HDR to achieve this.
Local light pollution normally makes it hard to see with anything short of long exposure, but today it was naked eye visible and regular photos also captured it.
Years ago I was concerned about this and made a plan with my wife for what to do if she was at work.
But now we have a bunch of kids in different schools and haven't updated our plan.
Does anyone have a plan for what happens if we have a really bad event?
A really bad event would be that long-distance transmission lines act like antennas and pick up millions of volts and blow up all the transformers.
I don't know how much you can plan for that other than "if it happens, try to get home", and then all the usual prepper stuff.
Pray for clear skies and go out and watch the beautiful aurora, silly!
Depending on the kids' ages, you can teach them quite a lot about the Earth's magnetic field and why the aurora concentrates at the poles, how the high-energy particles light up the sky (it's a lot like a neon light), and how the atmosphere shields us from any danger despite the spectacular show.
For a really bad event that managed to blow a lot of transformers (presumably due to grid operators not seeing it coming) ... well, take up farming.
Buy a bit of extra food and water.
And toilet paper! Rolls and rolls of toilet paper!
First rule of fight club...
Keep a couple days water and food on hand, go up to the pub, have a pint, and wait for this all to blow over.
With how much modern cars rely on electronics, I would not try to drive during such an event.
That's a safety feature. It prevents you from drinking and driving if you go to a pub during a solar flare. :)
It’s ok - The Winchester is within walking distance.
Omg i watched this yesterday!
No one would drive to the pub anyway. Better walking back home…
Solar flares are only dangerous to very long conductors.
so cancel the limo?
Hopefully it's clear space weather for Artemis II coming up. I wonder what they do if it's inclement en route?
There's not that much they can do. It's often discussed that if the extreme August 1972 solar storm had overlapped with an Apollo mission (it didn't), it would have acutely sickened the astronauts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_1972_solar_storms#Human...
> "Had a mission been taking place during August, those inside the Apollo command module would have been shielded from 90% of the incoming radiation. However, this reduced dose could still have caused acute radiation sickness if the astronauts were located outside the protective magnetic field of Earth, which was the case for much of a lunar mission. An astronaut engaged in EVA in orbit or on a moonwalk could have experienced severe radiation poisoning, or even absorbed a potentially lethal dose."
The Orion capsule's contingency plan looks something like this:
> "To protect themselves, astronauts will position themselves in the central part of the crew module largely reserved for storing items they’ll need during flight and create a shelter using the stowage bags on board. The method protects the crew by increasing mass directly surrounding them, and therefore making a denser environment that solar particles would have to travel through, while not adding mass to the crew module itself."
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/orion/scientists-and-e...
Weirdly, while the site in question is "blaring klaxons!" there are more "cool night lights!" posts than concern.
Unless you're in space, a large scale electrical operator, or relying on HF radio there isn't much reason to be interested other than the lights for a G4 (what this is currently classed as).
Blaring Klaxons! https://youtu.be/LX2KX0OaofI
> while the site in question is "blaring klaxons!"
No, it isn't. It clearly says everything is under control but it would be good to keep an eye on it.
I wonder if we're going to see an aurora over Seattle tonight?
Up to G-5 possibly. Cell phone visible in dark areas throughout most of CONUS.
It was mentioned that air travel ionizing radiation exposure increases during geomagnetic storms. I'd consider pausing travel for a couple of days to not be a guinea pig because there's not enough data to consider it safe. If anyone absolutely must fly tonight, it'd be interesting if they were to take a high sensitivity dosimeter to see what happens.
I'll be going out tonight if this continues into Australian night time hours.
At this strength, I could see the full display including colors with my naked eye in Melbourne, May 11th 2024. This storm is slightly stronger than that event.
It seems that the peak was several hours ago, and I haven't observed any effects from it...
The peak was originally supposed to be 6-7 hours from now... it's still showing KP 8 here though, so I'm not sure what's going on. It could get more intense.
Possible aurora visible through central US tonight
Darn Montreal is still too south. Wish I were in Winnipeg.
We never get aurora in Japan :(
Probably a stupid question, but should I unplug my EV? (UK)
No need. Wrong type of solar event. You might be able to see auroras, though. I saw some a couple of hours ago.
No.