Technology & Science
X1.9 Solar Flare’s Full-Halo CME Spurs G4 Aurora Alert Across Lower 48
NOAA upgraded its geomagnetic storm watch to “severe” (G4) on 19 Jan 2026 after an X1.9-class flare a day earlier hurled a full-halo coronal mass ejection toward Earth, putting auroras within reach of Alabama and Northern California for the first time in decades.
Focusing Facts
- The flare erupted from Active Region 4341 at 11:09 a.m. EST on 18 Jan 2026 and launched a CME calculated at >1,500 km/s, arriving at Earth roughly 30 hours later.
- NOAA confirmed S4 solar radiation levels on 20 Jan 2026—the first S4 event since 2003—while geomagnetic readings briefly hit G4, expanding the auroral oval over more than 25 U.S. states.
- The storm coincided with a new-moon window (18 Jan), giving exceptionally dark skies that boosted naked-eye aurora visibility well beyond typical high-latitude zones.
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