A radio blackout was detected over the Pacific Ocean Monday afternoon after an expected solar storm slammed into Earth.
Data showed the incident occurred around 4:20pm ET in the waters off the coast of the western US and South America – but it lasted for a just few seconds.
The poles were also impacted by the powerful stream of energized particles, with the outage lasting for about seven hours.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) said there was a 60 percent chance the storm would disrupt the power grid.
Another storm is set to impact Earth tomorrow, which could also impact radios, aviation communication and degrade satellite operations.
But the events are expected to create stunning auroras as far south as northern Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
Data showed the incident occurred around 4:20pm ET (circle in red, orange and yellow) off the coast of the western US and South America – but it lasted for a just few seconds
The first (top right) made impact Monday and the second by Tuesday
Physicist Tamitha Skov told DailyMail.com: ‘As for radio blackouts, yes the risk is increasing now.
‘We have already had two small M-class flares, resulting in short-lived R1-level radio blackouts today, but they may soon become longer and larger.
‘NOAA/SWPC has the risk for an R1-R2-level radio blackout at 60 percent over the next couple of days.’
M-class flares are medium-sized; they generally cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth’s polar regions.
The two active sunspots, 3559 and 3555, released coronal mass ejections (CMEs) just one day apart over the weekend – the first exploded on Saturday.
CMEs can eject billions of tons of corona material from the sun’s surface. The material consists of plasma and magnetic fields.
‘This storm will be followed by two, possibly three others that will give us several glancing blows through January 25,’ said Skov, who hosts a space weather forecast on YouTube.
‘We have a series of solar storms hitting starting now (the first one just hit a few hours ago, but it is ramping up slowly).
‘However, we can all rest easy, as these storms will not be that powerful to affect critical infrastructure.’
At the start of Monday, there was only a 10 percent chance of a minor solar radiation storm, but the likelihood increased to 55 percent following the CME striking Earth
The two active sunspots, 3559 and 3555, released coronal mass ejections (CMEs) just one day apart. CMEs can eject billions of tons of corona material from the sun’s surface. The material consists of plasma and magnetic fields
NOAA uses a five-level system called the S-scale, to indicate the severity of a solar radiation storm.
At the start of Monday, there was only a 10 percent chance of a minor solar radiation storm, but the likelihood increased to 55 percent following the CME striking Earth.
SWPC shared that ‘the general public does not need to be concerned,’ but the storm will bring northern lights to several US states this week.
‘Solar storms are what cause the gorgeous aurora we see on Earth’s nightside. For the aurora lovers in your community, this week is a real treat,’ said Skov.
SWPC issued an official warning on its website about a geomagnetic storm striking Earth, which is a temporary disturbance in Earth’s magnetosphere caused by a solar wind shock wave.
The geomagnetic storm is currently a G2 event, which is deemed moderate on SWPC’s scale, and is in effect until Tuesday.
During G2 storms, voltage corrections may be necessary and false alarms could trigger some devices.
Satellites and spacecraft in orbit may experience drag that could interfere with operations.
Space weather experts predicted power grid issues could appear on the dark side of the planet and in higher altitudes like the poles, which could see issues with aviation communication, ham radios and even satellites disrupted in orbit
SWPC also shared on the social media platform, noting that ‘the general public does not need to be concerned,’ but will bring northern lights to several US states this week
SWPC’s alert also states the potential impacts include impacts on HF (high frequency) radios in higher latitudes.
‘The radio waves (called ‘radio bursts’) are what impact our reception to satellite signals like GPS and even HF radio communications,’ Skov told DailyMail.com.
‘It is like the Sun is literally screaming at us during a solar flare.
‘This ‘scream’ is much louder than our satellites can ‘chirp’ and so it drowns out the satellite signals temporarily.
‘That being said, the sun doesn’t always scream at the exact frequencies that affect GPS signals.’
The alert is largely for frequencies used by aviation communication, government time stations, weather stations, amateur radio and citizens band services, among other uses.
‘Those who might be impacted are people who rely on GPS/GNSS services, especially at high latitudes, as well as precision farmers and anyone using UAVs for reconnaissance, search and rescue, or aerial photography,’ Skov told DailyMail.com.
‘They may find their drone has trouble locking on to the GPS/GNSS [Other Global Navigation Satellite Systems] satellites, among other things.
‘Luckily, things should settle down around the 26th, as long as the Sun doesn’t fire anything else our way.’
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
