Earth likely to be hit by 'severe' geomagnetic storm today

A "severe" solar storm warning has been issued for the first time in 19 years due to multiple solar material plumes on the verge of colliding with Earth.

These five coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are expected to strike Earth between May 10 and 11. 

AR3664 is a massive and incredibly energetic sunspot. A Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch was last issued by NOAA in January 2005.

Strong geomagnetic storms can affect the Earth in a number of ways, such as causing problems with satellites, radio blackouts, grid voltage management, and confused GPS navigation. 

The aurora borealis may also be visible farther from the poles than usual as a result of them; G4 storms in particular have been known to cause the northern lights to appear as far south as Alabama and northern California.

Large clouds of CMEs are released from the Sun and frequently come with an X-ray solar flare. These CMEs can cause geomagnetic storms in our magnetosphere if they strike the Earth.

"The mass ejected from the Sun carries some of the Sun's magnetic field with it. When the magnetised matter from the Sun collides with Earth's magnetic field and rams into the outer layers of our protective field, we often get a geomagnetic storm," Delores Knipp, a space weather research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, told Newsweek.