Satellites and the country's power grid might be affected by a solar storm that zoomed past Earth recently.

Weather data indicate that at least two US states were affected by geomagnetic storms caused by the nearby solar eruption.

As the sun goes through a period of heightened activity, the July 1 CME is part of a series of solar storms.

During a CME, plasma is ejected from the Sun's outer layer, called the corona, after a solar eruption called a coronal mass ejection.

As they travel through space, these mass ejections of particles from the Sun are protected by the Earth's magnetic field.

On July 1st, a CME passed within a few hundred kilometers of Earth. The magnetic field of our planet was not directly struck by it.'

In recent years, scientists have predicted that a 'near miss' might have implications for the magnetic field of the globe.

“Wet weather experts at SpaceWeather.com reported that it instead snowplowed dense plasma in our direction.

There were some issues in upper Midwest states like Minnesota and further west in Washington, according to the website. Amid the heightened solar activity, the Sun emitted the coronal mass ejection on July 1.

The Northern Lights are one of the most famous examples of auroras caused by solar storms. SpaceWeather.com states: 'The near-miss caused a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm with auroras.'.

In the sky, green and blue shapes are created by the Earth's magnetosphere getting bombarded by the solar wind.

Solar flares and ejections can have severe consequences, but the Earth's magnetic field can protect us from most of them.

Earth can experience a strong solar storm when a solar ejection is directly directed at it. A power outage, satellite communication problems, or even a radio blackout can result.