NEW YORK (AP) — Solar storms may bring faint but visible auroras to the Northern Hemisphere starting late Thursday and extending into early Friday morning.
But, experts say, don't expect power grids and communications to be disrupted much.
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Flares of northern lights color the sky over the White Mountains just after midnight, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, as viewed from a mountaintop in Chatham, N.H. Lights on the summit of Mount Washington can be seen on the ridgeline at left. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The moon rises over Alton, New Hampshire as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms that could spark aurora borealis, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
The moon shines over people parked at a scenic overlook to watch for aurora borealis in Alton Bay, New Hampshire as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
In this long exposure photo, a ring forms around the moon as cars drive along Mt. Major Highway near Lake Winnipesaukee in Alton Bay, N.H., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
FILE - In this image taken with a long exposure, people look at the night sky towards the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, May 10, 2024, in Estacada, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
People in Canada and northern U.S. states including Alaska, Washington, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota may be able to see faint colorful displays, according to the current space weather forecast.
If the moderate solar storms become more intense as nighttime approaches, people as far south as Illinois and New York might be able to glimpse the phenomenon.
“All the stars have to align” for that to happen, said Erica Grow Cei, spokesperson for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
To spy the spectacle, wait for skies to get dark and then go outside, ideally away from bright city lights. Taking a picture with a smartphone camera may also reveal hints of the aurora that aren't visible to the naked eye.
The sun’s magnetic field is at the peak of its 11-year cycle, making storms and aurora displays more frequent. Unusually strong solar storms in May produced vibrant aurora displays across the Northern Hemisphere.
The night storms are expected to be less intense, but could cause brief disruptions to precision GPS machinery like what farmers use to harvest crops, Grow Cei said.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Flares of northern lights color the sky over the White Mountains just after midnight, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, as viewed from a mountaintop in Chatham, N.H. Lights on the summit of Mount Washington can be seen on the ridgeline at left. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The moon rises over Alton, New Hampshire as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms that could spark aurora borealis, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
The moon shines over people parked at a scenic overlook to watch for aurora borealis in Alton Bay, New Hampshire as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
In this long exposure photo, a ring forms around the moon as cars drive along Mt. Major Highway near Lake Winnipesaukee in Alton Bay, N.H., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
FILE - In this image taken with a long exposure, people look at the night sky towards the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, May 10, 2024, in Estacada, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
KARTALKAYA, Turkey (AP) — As flames tore through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey, friends Esra Karakisa and Halime Cetin stood helpless, paralyzed by the horror unfolding before them: people leaning out of smoke-filled rooms pleading for help and others making the harrowing decision to leap out.
The fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalya, in the Koroglu mountains in Bolu province, on Tuesday left at least 76 people dead and 51 injured. It came near the start of a two-week winter break for schools when hotels in the region are filled to capacity.
“There was no one around. They were calling for firefighters. They were breaking the windows. Some could no longer stand the smoke and flames, and they jumped,” Cetin, an employee at a hotel adjacent to the Grand Kartal, told The Associated Press.
Her colleague, Karakisa said: “It was awful. We were terrified. People were screaming. The cries of children especially affected us. We wanted to help but there was nothing we could do. I couldn’t look it was so terrifying.”
Authorities have assigned six prosecutors to investigate the cause of the fire, which appeared to have started at the restaurant section on the fourth floor of of the wooden-clad hotel and spread quickly through to the upper floors.
At least nine people have been detained for questioning, including the hotel owner.
Flags at government buildings and Turkish diplomatic missions abroad were lowered to half-staff as the nation shocked by the disaster observed a day of mourning for the victims.
Only 45 of the 76 bodies have been identified so far, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said late Tuesday.
One of the injured was in serious condition, while 29 others were treated and released, the Health Ministry said.
The hotel had 238 registered guests, according to Yerlikaya. The fire was reported at 3:27 a.m. and the fire department began to respond at 4:15 a.m., he told reporters.
Officials and witnesses said the rescue efforts were hampered by the fact that part of the 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff.
According to Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024, and “no negative situation regarding fire competence” was reported by the fire department.
Karakisa said she eventually brought clothes and water for the survivors while others rushed to bring mattresses for people to jump onto or propped up ladders against the wall to help them escape.
Among those who placed mattresses was Baris Salgur, a cleaner in a nearby hotel.
“They were saying, ‘Please help, we’re burning!' They were saying, ‘Call the fire department,' we were trying to calm them down, but there was nothing we could do, we couldn’t get in either,” Salgur, 19, said. " It was very high, we couldn’t extend a rope or anything of course. We were trying to do the best we could.”
“People jumped from a great height, I couldn’t look. There were two women at the top floor. The flames had literally entered the room. They couldn’t stand it and jumped,” he said.
Salgur described seeing a man on the top floors holding a baby and shouting for a mattress he could throw his baby on.
"We told him to be a little calmer. He waited, then the fire department came and took them (out), but unfortunately the baby had died from smoke inhalation,” he said.
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Robert Badendieck in Istanbul contributed to this report.
Tightened bed sheets hang from a window of a hotel where a fire broke out at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A Turkish flag flag flies at half staff outside a hotel where a fire broke out at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters and emergency teams work on the aftermath of a fire that broke out at a hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, located in Bolu province, northwest Turkey, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya, located in Bolu province, in northwest Turkey, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Enes Ozkan/IHA via AP)