Link

Saturday July 15 12:18 AM ET Solar Flare Could Disrupt Power Saturday, U.S Says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A huge solar flare produced by a large sunspot group is expected to produce a geomagnetic storm that could disrupt electric power grids and satellite operations, U.S. government scientists predicted on Friday.

The flare spewed out billions of tons of plasma and charged particles at 6:24 a.m. EDT (1024 GMT) on Friday that are expected to reach the Earth's magnetic field when it is Saturday afternoon on the U.S. East Coast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, which detected the flare, predicted that a geomagnetic storm could last until Monday. The charged particles are making the 93 million mile (150 million km) trip toward Earth at 3 million miles per hour (4.82 million kph), it said.

``The storm is expected to reach strong to severe levels ... which can adversely affect satellite operations and power grids,'' the center warned in a statement.

NOAA predicted similar disruptions last month after a solar flare erupted on June 7. But the emissions from that flare were harmlessly deflected by the Earth's magnetic shield, leaving electricity, satellite and communications companies with only minor problems.

The latest solar flare already has caused some effects on Earth, including radio blackouts on the sunlit side of the planet, the center said.

The solar activity also should give mid-latitude areas, including the U.S. cities of Washington, New York, Denver and Seattle a good chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis on Saturday night through Sunday morning, the center said.

NASA's ACE satellite, in orbit about 1 million miles (1.6 million km) from Earth, will detect any approaching geomagnetic storms and provide NOAA with a warning about an hour before they reach Earth's magnetic field, it said.

The recent flares erupted during largest solar radiation storm since October 1989, the center said.

In March of 1989, a solar storm knocked out the electrical system in all of Quebec and destroyed a large power transformer in New Jersey.

-- Flash (flash@flash.hq), July 15, 2000

Answers

Does anyone still have a link to the solar sites, the ones with photos. I've lost all my bookmarks. Thanks

-- cin (cin@cin.cin), July 15, 2000.

Here's one

SOHO

-- cin (cin@cin.cin), July 15, 2000.

cin,

I don't have a link to a site with photos but here is a link to a site with a CHART that updates every 15 minutes.

-- Debra (...@....), July 15, 2000.

Here's another good site (sorry, I don't know how to make this show up as a link):

http://spaceweather.com/

-- Woweeee (ohhhh.myyyy@look.at.that), July 15, 2000.

Dang, I slept right thru it. But I did have a wet dream!

-- (nemesis@awol.com), July 15, 2000.

JUST MORE FUD! I'LL BET Toast-Ed AND Gary DUCT TAPE ARE THE ONES BEHIND THIS! I'M GOING TO INVESTIGATE AND WRITE MY CONGRESSMAN ABOUT THIS!

-- cpr (buytexas@swbell.net), July 15, 2000.

Cpr, either im extremely naive, or you're extremely paranoid.

-- cin (cin@cin.cin), July 15, 2000.

-- Uncle Bob (unclb0b@aol.com), July 15, 2000.

That is fantastic bob thanks

-- cin (cin@cin.cin), July 15, 2000.

No problems here yet...

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 15, 2000.

It's 9:30 PDT and my electricity is still on. Nothing even strange on the radio. We usually get tons of skip transmissions on the CHP frequencies when the sunspot cyle is up but didn't even hear any southern drawls today. I'd rate the solar flare as a dud.

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), July 16, 2000.

I just had a friend report seeing the Aurora Borealis in South Carolina. Is that possible??

-- (Adelle@home.now), July 16, 2000.