The geomagnetic storm will likely continue through the weekend
Mexico City:
The biggest geomagnetic storm in two decades, triggered by solar flares, caused dazzling lights to appear across parts of Latin America overnight on Friday, including a rare appearance in Mexico.
In Mexicali, a desert city on Mexico’s northern border thousands of miles from the Arctic regions where northern lights are common, gradients of pink and purple lit up the night sky.
The civil protection agency for Baja California state in Mexicali said more auroras could be visible Saturday night.
In Chile, where the lights are known as the aurora australis, or southern lights, local media and social media users shared photos of the sky over the city of Punta Arenas painted in red and magenta.
Local media in Argentina reported similar hues lighting up the sky over the Patagonian city of Ushuaia.
Geomagnetic storms are caused when bursts of plasma and magnetic fields from the solar corona are directed toward Earth, where they can trigger such auroral displays, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The geomagnetic storm will likely continue through the weekend, the agency said.
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