I am not an expert, but it’s worth noting that the kp index has a maximum value of 9. So though the Carrington event had a kp of 9, its intensity on the related (but not capped) HP30/HP60 scale [1] would likely have been higher.
[1] https://kp.gfz.de/en/hp30-hp60
We had intense aurora in Berlin, Germany. Green clouds dancing in the sky levels. Started around 22:10 local time or a bit earlier, and at this point there's only a faint red/green glow remaining.
Just spend an hour outsite (Northern Germany, 01:00 MET). Unfortunately nothing to report, neither visual nor on camera.
Maybe I just went to late and missed the show.
I hope you habe more luck in Canada and the US!
Friends who live in Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain could see it pretty well. I'm a bit further south within Berlin where skies are minimally darker, but between 10pm and 11pm it was so bright that light pollution didn't matter.
Funnily enough, despite having lots of alerts set up it was my mom who texted me from northern Brandenburg as she spotted it after getting an alert from RegenRadar, of all apps...
And up at the top right, left to "Latest" you can skip the time back and forth at 10 minute intervals. And then jump back like 10 images, what a beauty.
I had the most intensely coloured lights visible in the west of Ireland. I've seen them a few times before but never like this. Phones were capturing them in video not just long exposures.
Not sure what the best service is to be alerted ahead of time. Apparently it'll be strong here again at 6am according to some of the apps some random people were waving around.
There are several apps that do a good job of alerting users. I use "Aurora Pro", which I prefer because it checks cloud cover and lets you set alert thresholds based on viewing probability.
Worth noting that Kp, which many talk about in discussions online, is more or less useless for anyone in Australia or the southern hemisphere. Lots of beginner Aurora chasers here get tripped up by that.
What is useful is KAus and the G index, KAus is shown on this page, so thats what i'll be tracking.
PJM had some geomagnetic disturbance warnings, but did not progress to the alert stage or grid re-configuation actions. So, no US power grid problems.
104955 Warning Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning 01.19.2026 14:30
PJM-RTO
A Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning has been issued for
14:30 on 01.19.2026 through 16:00 on 01.19.2026 .
A GMD warning of K8 or greater is in effect for this period.
End time: 01.19.2026 16:00
(All times are prevailing Eastern US time)
I've posted on this before, for other warnings. Not going to repeat that.
Although everyone is interested in visible aurora, the proton flux is also really impressive. It peaked at 37,000 pfu at 1910Z. The highest ever recorded was 43,500 pfu in March 1991.
This page looks like an accessibility nightmare. The entire warning text is an image. There is no transcription present for screen reader users. I did not expect this from a government website.
Local light pollution normally makes it hard to see with anything short of long exposure, but today it was naked eye visible and regular photos also captured it.
Pray for clear skies and go out and watch the beautiful aurora, silly!
Depending on the kids' ages, you can teach them quite a lot about the Earth's magnetic field and why the aurora concentrates at the poles, how the high-energy particles light up the sky (it's a lot like a neon light), and how the atmosphere shields us from any danger despite the spectacular show.
There's not that much they can do. It's often discussed that if the extreme August 1972 solar storm had overlapped with an Apollo mission (it didn't), it would have acutely sickened the astronauts.
> "Had a mission been taking place during August, those inside the Apollo command module would have been shielded from 90% of the incoming radiation. However, this reduced dose could still have caused acute radiation sickness if the astronauts were located outside the protective magnetic field of Earth, which was the case for much of a lunar mission. An astronaut engaged in EVA in orbit or on a moonwalk could have experienced severe radiation poisoning, or even absorbed a potentially lethal dose."
The Orion capsule's contingency plan looks something like this:
> "To protect themselves, astronauts will position themselves in the central part of the crew module largely reserved for storing items they’ll need during flight and create a shelter using the stowage bags on board. The method protects the crew by increasing mass directly surrounding them, and therefore making a denser environment that solar particles would have to travel through, while not adding mass to the crew module itself."
Up to G-5 possibly. Cell phone visible in dark areas throughout most of CONUS.
It was mentioned that air travel ionizing radiation exposure increases during geomagnetic storms. I'd consider pausing travel for a couple of days to not be a guinea pig because there's not enough data to consider it safe. If anyone absolutely must fly tonight, it'd be interesting if they were to take a high sensitivity dosimeter to see what happens.
Unless you're in space, a large scale electrical operator, or relying on HF radio there isn't much reason to be interested other than the lights for a G4 (what this is currently classed as).
I'll be going out tonight if this continues into Australian night time hours.
At this strength, I could see the full display including colors with my naked eye in Melbourne, May 11th 2024. This storm is slightly stronger than that event.
The peak was originally supposed to be 6-7 hours from now... it's still showing KP 8 here though, so I'm not sure what's going on. It could get more intense.
G5: " Pipeline currents can reach hundreds of amps, HF (high frequency) radio propagation may be impossible in many areas for one to two days..."
Funnily enough, despite having lots of alerts set up it was my mom who texted me from northern Brandenburg as she spotted it after getting an alert from RegenRadar, of all apps...
https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/kleinfleisskees/
https://www.foto-webcam.eu/
And up at the top right, left to "Latest" you can skip the time back and forth at 10 minute intervals. And then jump back like 10 images, what a beauty.
You can even see Starlink satellites https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/19/1820
- https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/19/2230
- https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/19/2240
Incredible, thanks so much!
Not sure what the best service is to be alerted ahead of time. Apparently it'll be strong here again at 6am according to some of the apps some random people were waving around.
G4 storms are ~100 per solar cycle (~11 years).
So roughly 9 G4 events/year on average.
What is useful is KAus and the G index, KAus is shown on this page, so thats what i'll be tracking.
I've posted on this before, for other warnings. Not going to repeat that.
https://emergencyprocedures.pjm.com/ep/pages/dashboard.jsf
/s
Even with lights in the direct line of the shot you you can get good results - presumably the phone is doing HDR to achieve this.
But now we have a bunch of kids in different schools and haven't updated our plan.
Does anyone have a plan for what happens if we have a really bad event?
I don't know how much you can plan for that other than "if it happens, try to get home", and then all the usual prepper stuff.
Depending on the kids' ages, you can teach them quite a lot about the Earth's magnetic field and why the aurora concentrates at the poles, how the high-energy particles light up the sky (it's a lot like a neon light), and how the atmosphere shields us from any danger despite the spectacular show.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_1972_solar_storms#Human...
> "Had a mission been taking place during August, those inside the Apollo command module would have been shielded from 90% of the incoming radiation. However, this reduced dose could still have caused acute radiation sickness if the astronauts were located outside the protective magnetic field of Earth, which was the case for much of a lunar mission. An astronaut engaged in EVA in orbit or on a moonwalk could have experienced severe radiation poisoning, or even absorbed a potentially lethal dose."
The Orion capsule's contingency plan looks something like this:
> "To protect themselves, astronauts will position themselves in the central part of the crew module largely reserved for storing items they’ll need during flight and create a shelter using the stowage bags on board. The method protects the crew by increasing mass directly surrounding them, and therefore making a denser environment that solar particles would have to travel through, while not adding mass to the crew module itself."
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/orion/scientists-and-e...
It was mentioned that air travel ionizing radiation exposure increases during geomagnetic storms. I'd consider pausing travel for a couple of days to not be a guinea pig because there's not enough data to consider it safe. If anyone absolutely must fly tonight, it'd be interesting if they were to take a high sensitivity dosimeter to see what happens.
No, it isn't. It clearly says everything is under control but it would be good to keep an eye on it.
At this strength, I could see the full display including colors with my naked eye in Melbourne, May 11th 2024. This storm is slightly stronger than that event.