Strongest solar storms in 20 years create new radiation belts around Earth. During these powerful events, a temporary third belt can form between the two permanent Van Allen Belts. In May, the strongest solar storms in 20 years produced Northern Lights as far south as Florida.
NASA’s CIRBE CubeSat detected evidence of two new radiation belts within the Van Allen Belts. These new belts formed after May’s geomagnetic storms and could last months or even years.
The solar flares that caused these events were extremely powerful, with the largest one being an X8.7 flare on May 14. The Sun is approaching solar maximum, which means more sunspots will emerge, leading to more powerful Northern lights displays.
In fact, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued Geomagnetic Storm Watches due to incoming CMEs that could cause strong solar storm impacts, including Northern Lights farther away from the North Pole. Space weather forecasters continue to monitor 12 different sunspot regions with a history of producing solar flares, and current forecasts show the potential for strong solar flares this weekend.
Source: https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/historic-solar-storm-new-radiation-belts-earth