Geomagnetic Storm!

[DROliver]

NOAA ISSUES SPACE WEATHER WARNING
Forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo., observed a geomagnetic storm on Sunday, May 15, which they classified as an extreme event, measuring G-5—the highest level—on the NOAA Space Weather Scales. "This event registered a 9 on the K-Index, which measures the maximum deviation of the Earth's magnetic field in a given three-hour period," said Gayle Nelson, lead operations specialist at NOAA Space Environment Center. "The scale ranges from 0 to 9, with 9 being the highest. This was a significant event." Possible impacts from such a geomagnetic storm include widespread power system voltage control problems; some grid systems may experience complete collapse or blackouts.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2437.htm


Steve

[Derecho]

It's long over actually. CME hit about 11PM Eastern time Saturday night, storm only lasted till this morning.

Aurora was visible as far south as Southern California. I was clouded out in Maryland.

[Aslkahuna]

The aurbo was also seen in AZ. Chris Schur in Payson got photos and we caught the tail end when the clouds finally cleared. There is still gemag activity tonight but this is a declining phase of the storm and the indices are not as strong tonight.

Steve

[iceangel]

Umm..during the Dodgers and Braves baseball game Sunday evening in LA, there was a minor power outage at the ballpark. When one of the players hit the ball,Don Sutton(Braves announcer) heard a roll of thunder and said

What in the heck is going on around here

I forgot to mention that when the power came back on,some of the lights came on too. It looked like a normal day out there, by that, I mean no rain or clouds were evident, Not even thunder.

Do you suppose that this had anything to do with the storm?

[Aslkahuna]

Not unless the Dodgers were still playing at midnight which is when the gemag storm went into overdrive. Actually, more likely it was a blown transformer or circuit breaker

Stephen