You May Be Able to See the Northern Lights This Weekend

A series of strong solar flares in the past fews days has prompted the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center to issue a G4 severe-geomagnetic-storm watch for Earth for the first time in nearly 20 years. The storm is expected to reach the planet on Friday and might continue through the weekend. It could give much of the U.S. a rare opportunity to view the northern lights (aurora borealis) in the nighttime sky as far south as Alabama and also potentially disrupt communications and power grids.