(NEXSTAR) – A strong geomagnetic storm that has been impacting Earth since Monday has prompted national forecasters to warn officials “to mitigate any possible impacts.”
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center warned late Monday that moderate G2-level storming had been observed, brought on by the influences of coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. At the time, the agency warned moderate storming was expected to continue into Tuesday.
A short time later, the SWPC said that solar wind conditions had strengthened and strong G3-level storming was expected. Roughly half an hour later, the SWPC confirmed that the geomagnetic storm conditions had reached G3 level. (The SWPC uses a 5-point scale to measure the strength of geomagnetic storms, much like forecasters use scales for tornadoes and hurricanes.)
As part of its warning, the SWPC said, “Infrastructure operators have been notified to mitigate any possible impacts.”
“Some risk for mainly controllable power fluctuations in the power grid,” the information continued. “Possible, slight risk of various satellite operations’ effects. Intermittent GPS degradation possible.”
Stronger geomagnetic storms are capable of impacting our infrastructure. Ahead of a forecasted G4-strength solar storm early last year — the largest since 2005 — Robert Steenburgh, a space scientist at SWPC, explained to Nexstar that CMEs, explosions of plasma and magnetic material from the sun, carry their own magnetic fields.
“When you superimpose that over long conductors, things like pipelines and railroad tracks and power lines, it can induce current — and that’s electrical current that’s not supposed to be there,” he said.
Our power grids and infrastructure are otherwise able to withstand the impacts of geomagnetic storms, which means you’ll likely notice little to no impact at all.
Ahead of strong solar storms, officials will notify those using high-frequency radios (like emergency managers), airlines, and those in charge of our electrical grid of the possible impacts on our communication systems, GPS, and electricity.
There are resiliencies built into our electrical grids, flights, and communication systems to prevent or diminish any impact, Dr. Delores Knipp, a research professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department at the University of Colorado Boulder, previously explained to Nexstar. In fact, you may not even notice a solar storm has hit us. Steenburgh said that they “happen all the time and are no cause for alarm.”
What you are more likely to notice during geomagnetic storms is the northern lights. As CMEs impact Earth’s atmosphere, particles are sent flying to the poles, interacting with oxygen and nitrogen to create the aurora.
G3-level geomagnetic storms have been known to bring the aurora as far south as Oregon and Illinois, the SWPC explains. At G4, they could reach California and Alabama.
Unfortunately, current forecasting from the SWPC shows the geomagnetic storming conditions are expected to weaken to less than G1 strength before 5 p.m. ET, meaning we likely don’t have good odds of seeing the northern lights on Tuesday.
Nonetheless, the sun could soon spew out more plasma and spark a celestial show for us earthlings.
