Earth to be hit with a series of small geomagnetic storms this week

The aurora borealis, or northern lights, make a rare appearance over central Ontario north of Hwy 36 in Kawartha Lakes, Ont., on Sunday, March 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill

The Northern Lights could be visible in northern Ontario and the southern Prairies as U.S. and U.K. officials are warning that Earth could be hit with a series of small geomagnetic storms.

The U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center is expecting a G1 storm on Tuesday evening, which is the lowest level of severity among geomagnetic storms. The agency also warns that there is a 20-per-cent chance of minor to moderate radio blackouts between March 15 and 17.

Similarly, the U.K's Meteorological Office, also known as the Met Office, warned that there is "a large but stable region" of solar flares expected to be on Tuesday evening.

The Met Office also warned that a coronal mass ejection that took place on Sunday could give Earth "a glancing blow" on Thursday.

Geomagnetic storms occur when Earth's magnetic field comes into contact with solar wind particles caused by the eruption of a solar flare. The interaction between solar winds particles and the magnetic field is also what causes auroras to be visible.

A large wave of solar flares can emerge through a coronal mass ejection, which occurs when the sun's outermost regions erupt and eject plasma and magnetic fields.

Geomagnetic storms occur regularly and usually don't cause any disturbances to people living on Earth. However, a particularly strong geomagnetic storm could take out satellites and cause power outages, as happened in Quebec in 1989.

The frequency of strong solar flares has also been increasing as we head towards what astronomers call a "solar maximum," which is the highest point of the sun's 11-year cycle and has the greatest amount of activity inside the sun.