STORM2K

I just heard on my local news there is supposed to be some kind of solar flare tomorrow that could knock out power, cable etc. Anybody else heard about this?

From another discussion board I belong to:

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- A strong geomagnetic storm was expected to hit Earth on Friday with the potential to affect electrical grids and satellite communications.

One of the largest sunspot clusters in years developed over the past three days and produced a coronal mass ejection, similar to a solar flare, at 3 a.m. EDT Wednesday, forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The disturbance was expected to produce a geomagnetic storm rated G3. A G5 storm is the strongest.

The storm could make the aurora visible as far south as Oregon and Illinois.

A coronal mass ejection is an explosion of gas and charged particles into space from the corona, the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere.

A second sunspot cluster not yet visible from Earth could produce more geomagnetic storms in the next two weeks, NOAA said.

These storms can affect communications, and power grids, satellittes


And from the NOAA website:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2003/s2104.htm

Thanks for the info jan!! I was hoping I was just hearing things. This does not sound good at all.

A friend just told me that a satellite is falling to earth as well. If that is true, that can't be a good thing because it will land somewhere.

Solar storms happen often enough. I believe some of the largest ones occur every 11 years.

As for a satellite falling to the earth. Most if not all of it should burn up in the earth's atmosphere and whatever doesn't hopefully will land on the vast area of ocean.

Thanks for the info Tom. Glad to hear that about the satellite burning up before it gets here.

The effects of a G3:
G 3
Strong
Power systems: voltage corrections may be required, false alarms triggered on some protection devices.

Spacecraft operations: surface charging may occur on satellite components, drag may increase on low-Earth-orbit satellites, and corrections may be needed for orientation problems.

Other systems: intermittent satellite navigation and low-frequency radio navigation problems may occur, HF radio may be intermittent, and aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon (typically 50° geomagnetic lat.)**.

So is this thing going to affect the entire country or do they know where it will hit?

The entire world is at risk of the possible effects of this storm, not just the United States.

I didn't mean to compare this to the solar storms that occur almost every year, the ones that are considered intense about every 11 years. This is the same sort of thing, but this has the potential to be even more intense.

I just hope the lights stay on till the sun comes up at 7:05 :o No power, no phones for me (since I have DSL) means no S2K (or any other board)

This came out during the night. This will affect not only cell phones, pagers and the electric grid, it may also affect banking so make sure you have the cash you need for the weekend. They anticipate that Earth will start feeling the affects around 3PM EDT and it could last 12-18 hours.
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Solar burst could scramble phones, power lines
By Marsha Walton
CNN
Friday, October 24, 2003 Posted: 7:16 AM EDT (1116 GMT)

(CNN) -- Satellites, pagers, cell phones, and electrical grids could be affected Friday by a moderately powerful ejection of magnetic material from the sun.

Space weather forecasters say the coronal mass ejection, or CME, was detected Wednesday morning at 3 a.m. EDT. It is expected to reach Earth about 3 p.m. EDT Friday, and its effects could last 12 to 18 hours.

Space weather forecasters at NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, warn a number of industries when there is a major release of the hot flares of solar gases. They usually take two to four days to reach Earth.

In the midst of these electromagnetic events, power companies often refrain from peak uploading and downloading of power across the grid. Airlines are also alerted, because some navigation systems may be affected.

Satellites are perhaps most affected by the solar activity.

"Satellites live and breathe in space; they are very vulnerable to solar activity," said Larry Combs, NOAA space weather forecaster. "They affect our banking systems, our TVs and cell phones, all the luxuries of life."

Combs said some operators will put their satellites into a stow, or a sort of "sleep" mode during the highest impact of the electromagnetic activity.

In the past there have been major outages and interruptions of cell phone and pager service because of electromagnetic interference.

"Sometimes satellites can be damaged beyond repair," said Combs. But there are hundreds of satellites in space now, most with some sort of backup possible.

The CMEs can also have a biological effect on humans, so space forecasters do daily briefings that might affect any crews in space. For example, it would not be a good idea to do a space walk when a solar event is predicted.

Forecasters track the CMEs from the time they leave the sun, and as the material gets closer to earth they pick up increases in X-rays and electromagnetic emissions.

Solar activity is rated, similar to the system for hurricanes or earthquakes, on a scale of one to five, with 5 as the most intense. Friday's activity is expected to be a 3, or moderate.

These magnetic storms can also produce spectacular displays of the northern lights; NASA's Space Weather Web site is predicting that the northern lights could be visible as far south as Oregon and Illinois.

Scientists made their first solar flare forecasts back in 1964. Since then a variety of instruments, both in space and on the ground, have improved their ability to track the activity.

"But like anything in nature, sometimes they don't act like we expect them to," Combs said.

I just heard about this on the news. Yeesh! :o

That would be awesome if we could see the Aurora in the lower 48.
We're about the same latitude as northern illinois here. Does anyone have any tips on when to look? After sunset, before sunrise, etc.?
I assume to just look north, right?

Since it is supposed to be clear, I will be outside this evening looking to the sky to see if I can get a glimpse of the northern lights. That would be awesome!

Awesome!

Isn't it funny how we take things for granted? The people in Alaska and other points North probably don't even get excited about the Northern Lights - they live with it so it's no big deal. Others like myself, on the other hand, would love to see it just once in a lifetime!

Here's the image of the solar flare courtesy of Yahoo! News.

Wow, Tex, that is magnificent!!!!!! The wonders of God's world.......

I have seen the Northern Lights on several occasions over the years. It is a wonderful sign not only of nature's dance, but God's pen in hand.

I heard late today that it was not as bad as they had originally thought. That's a good thing. Could have done some really bad damage to our communications systems. But, I also ready in science tech article that it could also be happening on the 25th.