Charged particles ejected in high volume 93 million miles away produced what for many Virginians were unprecedented sights in the Friday night skies.
A rare G5 geomagnetic storm, caused by a series of coronal mass ejections from the sun primarily related to a recent large cluster of sunspots, sparked the largest and most intense display of the aurora borealis in decades on Friday night, bringing glowing skies typically reserved for Canada and other northern latitudes as far south as Namibia in Africa and the Florida Keys in the United States.
It was Virginia’s most widely visible and intensely colorful display of the Northern Lights since at least 2003, when the last G5 storm occurred near Halloween, though depending on who you ask, 1991, 1941 and 1932 are some other answers that might come up on the question of the last similar aurora.
Even in 2003, neither smartphone technology, with cameras that can actually pull in more light than the naked eye with short night exposures, nor social media, which spreads those images globally in seconds, were in ubiquitous use. So that has the effect of magnifying an amazing celestial and atmospheric event that much more. For the most part, the colors of the aurora appear much more vibrant in digital photographs than could be seen visually.
Both Saturday night/Sunday morning and Sunday night/Monday morning carry the potential for additional aurora visibility far to the south of normal as more coronal mass ejections have been detected, though timing and intensity of the brighter periods is uncertain.
Below are images from around and near Cardinal News territory of the aurora as it was seen Friday night into early Saturday morning. If you have photos of weather or sky phenomena of any sort in or near the Southwest/Southside Virginia coverage area of Cardinal News, please email them to weather@cardinalnews.org for possible use in a future Cardinal News article. You can also submit photos to @KevinMyattWx or @CardinalNewsVA on X/Twitter or on the Kevin Myatt’s Weather Wonders or Cardinal News Facebook pages.
Journalist Kevin Myatt has been writing about weather for 20 years. His weekly column, appearing on Wednesdays, is sponsored by Oakey’s, a family-run, locally owned funeral home with locations throughout the Roanoke Valley.
Big Island, Courtesy of Chris Morris. Pea Patch, West Virginia, near Virginia state line. Courtesy of Billy Bowling.
Pea Patch, West Virginia, near Virginia state line. Courtesy of Billy Bowling. Blacksburg. Courtesy of Edward Shaw. Troutville. Courtesy of Chris White. Natural Bridge Station. Courtesy of Daniel Argabright. Blacksburg. Courtesy of Dave Carroll Fincastle. Photo by Dwayne Yancey. Hardy. Courtesy of Victor Slate.
Moneta. Courtesy of Jaime Brugh. Brush Mountain, Blacksburg. Courtesy of Jennifer Hesler Faw. Pulaski County. Courtesy of John Holst. Purgatory Mountain Overlook of Blue Ridge Parkway, overlooking Buchanan. Courtesy of John Hudson. Grundy. Courtesy of Julie Belcher. Southeast Roanoke. Courtesy of Karena Clinton. Charlottesville, Courtesy of Keith Foster. Bent Mountain. Courtesy of Kelley Whitmer. Bonsack. Courtesy of Lorna Kerr-Ross. Great Valley Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway. Courtesy of Mark Mofield. Draper. Courtesy of Meredith Williams. Red Oak, Charlotte County. Courtesy of Nathan White. Blacksburg. Courtesy of National Weather Service. Blacksburg. Courtesy of National Weather Service. Blue Ridge Parkway, northern Botetourt County. Courtesy of Peter Forister. Draper Valley Overlook, Pulaski County. Courtesy of Ryan Holgerson. Fincastle. Courtesy of Rachel Bayne.
Blacksburg. Courtesy of Taylor Cupp.
Smith Mountain Lake. Courtesy of Todd Carlisle. Great Valley Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway. Courtesy of Tom Carter. Blacksburg. Courtesy of Will Hozey. Galax. Courtesy of Zach Robinson.
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