An official Space Weather Advisory issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as Space Weather Bulletin #6 at 12:28PM MDT on June 6, 2000 states that a large solar flare resulted in a very powerful coronal ejection. This mass of highly charged particles is expected to reach earth June 8-9. Strong geomagnetic storm levels are expected. The advisory states:
“This storm may cause some or all effects on the following: power system grids may require voltage corrections, false alarms may be triggered on protection devices, and high “gas-in-oil” transformer readings may occur; spacecraft may experience surface charging, increased drag, and orientation problems may need corrections; HF (high-frequency) radio propagation may be intermittent; intermittent low-frequency radio navigation and satellite navigation problems may occur; and the aurora may be seen as low as 50 degrees.”
This means that cellphones, pagers and satellite-based signaling systems like satellite TV could be affected, alarm systems could be triggered and substantial voltage adjustments may need to be made to power grids to prevent blackouts.
Links for more information:
Current images of the sun
Latest Space Weather Advisories
Flare News Roundup
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