The “extreme” solar storm that began hitting Earth Friday evening is the first of this level since October 2003, in an episode dubbed “the Halloween storms,” the US Ocean Observatory wrote and atmospheric (NOAA). At the time, power outages occurred in Sweden and transformers were damaged in South Africa, she said.
Satellite, communications and power grid operators in North America have been notified to take precautionary measures, Shawn Dahl of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) said Friday. He recommended residents equip themselves with batteries or potentially generators, as with any other storm warning.
Electric operators have worked for ten years to better protect their networks, however, reassured Rob Steenburgh, scientist at SWPC. The effects can only occur on high voltage lines, not in individuals and systems comparable to circuit breakers exist. Regarding air traffic, the American Civil Aviation Agency (FAA) said “do not expect significant consequences”.
Coronal mass ejections
This storm is caused by the arrival on Earth of a series of coronal mass ejections from the Sun. These are “explosions of energetic particles and magnetic fields radiating from the sun,” explained Shawn Dahl.
The storm is expected to continue through the weekend, with additional coronal mass ejections arriving, NOAA added. The Sun is currently close to its peak activity, according to a cycle that returns every 11 years.
These coronal mass ejections, of which at least seven have been observed directed towards Earth, come from a sunspot approximately 17 times the diameter of Earth. They move at several hundred kilometers per second.