The northern lights returned to skies across the U.S. and the world over Thursday night after a powerful solar storm triggered stunning celestial displays also known as aurora borealis.
The big picture: Extreme G4 geomagnetic conditions were observed Thursday and remained overnight, per NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, which warned the storm had the potential to disrupt communications and the electric power grid.
Stargazers across the Northeast were treated to a dazzling display of light Thursday evening, as a severe geomagnetic storm created a rare sighting of the aurora borealis.
Driving the news: According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, a coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the Sun on Oct. 8, sending charged particles hurtling towards Earth. The following day New York City's Emergency Management Department issued a warning about potential "impacts to critical infrastructure, including GPS, power grids, and communications," but said the public did not need to take action.
With clear skies in the forecast across the region for Friday, the aurora could again be visible in skies tonight.
Hurricane Milton has resulted in at least eight deaths, as officials continued to survey damage from the storm on Thursday.
The big picture: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the death toll from Wednesday night's hurricane was expected to rise in coming days, and the state was working to restore power and replenish fuel supply. Over 2.6 million people remained without electricity as of 8:45pm ET Thursday.
Hurricane Milton's destruction came into focus Thursday, as the death toll grew to five in St. Lucie County, Florida alone and more than 3 million were left without power throughout the state.
The big picture: The death toll could continue to rise, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a mid-day news conference Thursday.
A severe geomagnetic storm could bring the northern lights to a large portion of the country this week, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said Wednesday.
Why it matters: While solar storms can trigger breathtaking celestial light shows in the night sky, they can cause "detrimental impacts" to critical technology and possible widespread voltage control problems, NOAA said.
Hurricane Milton's destruction was still emerging across Florida after it made landfall Wednesday night as a Category 3storm with powerful winds and flooding rains.
The big picture: There were widespread outages into Thursday morning from the hurricane, which damaged buildings and spawned a tornado outbreak ahead of landfall, with multiple deaths reported in suspected tornadoes in St. Lucie County.
South Florida officials have confirmed fatalities from a tornado outbreak as Hurricane Milton approached the state on Wednesday.
The big picture: Nearly 100 tornado warnings were issued in South Florida — where officials in St. Lucie County told WPBF-TV there had been multiple deaths after six-12 suspected tornadoes related to the storm touched down at the same time.
