Warnings about Hurricane Milton hitting Florida have dominated news reports this week. But there have been warnings from forecasters with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center about another storm brewing: a severe geomagnetic storm.

The storm is a result of a coronal mass ejection, CME, that sped toward Earth at 2.5 million mph. A coronal mass ejection is a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s corona, according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issued a severe (G4) geomagnetic storm alert lasting through Friday, setting the stage for the northern lights to appear across Minnesota. Although the northern lights are typically visible in polar regions, more intense solar events can cause the aurora borealis to appear farther south.