ATLANTA — Experts predict the northern lights could be seen as far south in the United States as Alabama this weekend.

A “severe solar storm is expected to supercharge” the auroras on Friday, NBC News reporters Denise Chow and Evan Bush explain.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center has confirmed a series of “solar flares and eruptions from the sun could trigger severe geomagnetic storms and ‘spectacular displays of aurora’ on Earth from Friday evening through the weekend,” Chow and Bush add.

The announcement marks the first severe geomagnetic storm watch the NOAA has issued since 2005, according to NBC News. Read more here.

Geomagnetic storms can disrupt some of our everyday communications tools, like satellites and radio signals.

The strongest storms can also even disrupt the power grid. With this storm, experts say people in the northern hemisphere -- and across parts of the southern hemisphere -- will likely notice a more prominent display of the northern lights this weekend.

The northern lights are common in high latitudes. They’re created as solar energy reaches Earth and interacts with its uppermost atmosphere. In much stronger solar events, like this one, the northern lights can be visible low on the horizon and much farther south.

Our partners at Channel 2 forecast that throughout Friday and Saturday, there is a possibility the northern lights could be seen as far south as southern California, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

At this time, it’s hard to predict whether the auroras will be visible in the north Georgia mountains.

NASA has a gallery of the various flares recorded from May 2 to May 9 online.

An advisory on the phenomena was issued by the federal agency Thursday.

NBC News contributed to this story

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