Video Forecast: Morning Drizzle and Solar Storm Ahead?

A robust marine layer and strong onshore winds will insure a cool, cloudy and possibly drizzly/light rain morning for parts of the Bay Area especially for our coastal areas and peninsula locations. Temperatures will remain mild for this time of year with highs in the 60s and 70s for most with some lower 80s further inland for our higher elevation inland valleys. Temperatures should climb slightly through the weekend but overall staying below average for this time of year. Now comes the most interesting part of the forecast and it doesn’t have to do with the weather on Earth, rather some very strong solar flares erupting out of sunspot clusters on the Sun’s surface. Some M-class (moderately strong) flares’ plasma will begin impacting the upper atmosphere of the Earth during the day Friday. This may lead to the “Northern Lights” being seen a little further south than usual. The light or “Aurora Borealis” are characterized by ribbons of bright green or reds in the night sky usually seen over Alaska or northern Canada, but do on occasion drop further south when geomagnetic activity ramps up. Strong X-class flares have been known to cause problems with satellites and even power grids in the past, so this series of weaker M-class flares isn’t expected to do the same. We’ll keep you posted – enjoy your Friday! – Rob Mayeda