A solar storm hit Earth on Thursday and is expected to bring the northern lights to dark skies farther south than normal. The timing of the storm should provide a great show for Europe, but those in North America could also see the dazzling lights if the storm persists into nighttime.

A huge solar storm is making its presence felt here on Earth. At 11:15 a.m. EDT, a CME traveling at nearly 1.5 million MPH hit our planet.

Get your cameras ready, Minnesota, because a big northern lights show is expected after sundown on Thursday due to the arrival of a severe geomagnetic storm.

The storm should arrive today or tomorrow, and could bring with it some brilliant aurorae.

A geomagnetic storm lit up the night sky in parts of the U.S. during the first weekend in October. South Africa's National Space Agency (Sansa) told reporters that the storm had originated from a solar flare "that erupted from sunspot 3842 on October 3.

A powerful solar outburst is likely to trigger a "severe" geomagnetic storm on Thursday, with auroras potentially visible as far south as California and Alabama, NOAA predicts.

Thanks to heightened solar activity, the aurora borealis could be coming to the skies in parts of Texas, space weather forecasters said Thursday.

Colorful auroras could be visible in areas of the United States such as Alabama and Northern California — much farther south than they typically appear — on Thursday evening due to a powerful solar flare and coronal mass ejection released from the sun,

A "severe" solar storm could make the northern lights visible in the U.S. farther south than usual while also posing the potential to disrupt modern technology.