A strong solar storm heading towards Earth could produce northern lights in the US and potentially disrupt communications this weekend.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a rare geomagnetic storm watch – the first in nearly 20 years.

The watch starts on Friday and lasts all weekend.

ICYMI, @NWSSWPC has issued the first G4 (Severe) geomagnetic watch since 2005. The aurora tomorrow may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California.https://t.co/SFKgB9x678 https://t.co/1H2sDQrIAj pic.twitter.com/1Mzzswniyl

— National Weather Service (@NWS) May 10, 2024

The NOAA said the sun produced strong solar flares beginning on Wednesday, resulting in five outbursts of plasma capable of disrupting satellites in orbit and power grids here on Earth.

Each eruption – known as a coronal mass ejection – can contain billions of tons of solar plasma.

The NOAA is calling this an unusual event, pointing out that the flares seem to be associated with a sunspot that is 16 times the diameter of Earth.

An extreme geomagnetic storm in 2003 took out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.

The latest storm could produce northern lights as far south in the US as Alabama and northern California, according to the NOAA.