Heads up aurora chasers! A powerful solar storm is on its way and could supercharge the skies with northern lights just in time for the Labor Day holiday.

A long-duration M2.7 flare erupted from sunspot Active Region 4199 on Aug. 30, launching a fast-moving, Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME). The CME is expected to reach Earth late on Sept. 1 into early Sept. 2 (UTC), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).

NOAA modeling suggests G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storming is likely when the CME first arrives, with conditions intensifying to G3 (strong) as the bulk of the storm passes on Sept. 2. That means auroras could extend farther south than usual across the northern U.S.

Space weather physicist Tamitha Skov highlighted that there are actually two Earth-directed solar storms, with one possibly overtaking the other. "The NOAA model run includes the two Earth-directed #solarstorm launches. The larger one catches up with the smaller one just ahead of Earth so a precursor disturbance may indeed ramp up before the larger storm hits. Impact is expected by late September 1. G2+ conditions possible," Skov wrote on X. When one CME sweeps up another in this way, scientists call it a "cannibal CME" — a scenario that may be unfolding now.

NOAA model showing two incoming CMEs. (Image credit: NOAA )