What Happened on November 11 2025
On November 11 2025, a strong G3 geomagnetic storm brought the Northern Lights to unusually low latitudes across North America and Europe. The storm was triggered by a coronal mass ejection from the Sun that reached Earth on the morning of November 11 2025. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G3 warning on November 10, 2025, and aurora visibility was reported as far south as northern California, Texas, and the southern United Kingdom NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.
Solar wind speeds exceeded 800 km/s during the peak of the storm on November 11 2025, with the Kp index reaching 7. The aurora oval expanded well beyond its typical 60-degree latitude, and photographers and astronomers documented widespread displays between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. The event followed a period of heightened solar activity as the Sun approached the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, which is expected to continue into 2025 and 2026.
Visibility, Timing, and Geographic Reach
The best visibility on November 11 2025 was reported in Scandinavia, Canada, Alaska, and the northern-tier U.S. states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine. In Europe, cities such as Edinburgh, Copenhagen, and Hamburg reported clear aurora sightings under dark skies. The storm also disrupted shortwave radio communications in the polar regions and caused minor GPS degradation for aviation and maritime users Forbes.
For observers in the contiguous United States, the clearest window was between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. Eastern Time on November 11 2025. Apps such as My Aurora Forecast and SpaceWeatherLive showed real-time KP maps that helped users pinpoint the southernmost edge of the aurora. The November 11 2025 display was one of the strongest geomagnetic storms since May 2024, when a G5 storm produced aurora as far south as Puerto Rico and India.
Impact on Energy, Markets, and Technology
The November 11 2025 geomagnetic storm caused minor fluctuations in the U.S. power grid, with grid operators in the Midwest and Northeast adjusting voltage levels to prevent transformer stress. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reported no major outages but noted increased geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) on long-distance transmission lines NERC.
In financial markets, the storm had a limited but measurable impact on satellite-dependent sectors, including GPS-enabled logistics and precision agriculture. Companies relying on low-Earth-orbit satellite communications, such as those in the aerospace and maritime industries, experienced brief signal interruptions. The event also renewed interest in space weather risk modeling, with firms such as Lloyds of London and Moody's RMS updating their insurance and risk frameworks for space-weather-related disruptions SEC.