Earth to be hit by a second solar storm TODAY with a 75% chance of radio, satellite and GPS outages, NOAA warns

Earth is expected to be hit by a powerful three-day solar storm today that could cause “fluctuations in the power grid,” experts warn.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) noted that the geomagnetic storm, which is a major disruption of Earth’s magnetosphere, could disrupt the orbits of satellites, cause radio blackouts and create incredible northern lights views this far south as New York could push.

The coming storm is due to an active sunspot that has produced at least 18 outbursts this week.

This is the same area that spewed out a powerful stream of plasmacalled coronal mass ejections (CME) earlier this month, disrupting communications worldwide.

The sunspot completed a full rotation around the sun and turned back toward Earth for what appears to be another few active days

The event is just one harbinger of the powerful solar weather to come when the sun reaches its “solar maximum,” astrophysicists told DailyMail.com, the most energetic point of its recurring, 11-year solar cycle, next summer in July 2025.

Category G2 or “moderate” solar storms are expected for Friday and Saturday, following today’s milder events, according to NOAA, which runs the U.S. organization. Center for Space Weather Forecasting.

The ‘impact area’ will likely extend from the Earth’s poles to within 55 degrees of ‘geomagnetic latitude’ – a region that includes northern parts of Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota , Washington, Wisconsin and Vermont.

While that puts these regions of the continental US at some risk for voltage problems with local power systems and disruptions to high frequency radio waves, there will also be benefits.

The beautiful sky phenomenon known as aurora borealis, or the Northern Lights, will also be visible in these areas, depending on local cloud conditions.

“Aurora can be seen from New York to Wisconsin to Washington state,” according to NOAA’s latest space weather advisory.

The upcoming solar storm on Friday and Saturday, caused by an X1.4 solar flare CME (photo, left of center above) emitted from Sunspot AR3697 yesterday. The outburst’s CME has already caused “strong radio blackouts” over the mid-Atlantic, according to EarthSky

Sunspot AR3664, now renamed AR3697, has reached a size that now rivals the sunspot responsible for the infamous 1895 Carrington event – which set telegraph wires ablaze and shut down international communications

According to meteorologist Bob Henson, even if they can’t see this charged plasma light show in Earth’s upper magnetosphere, skygazers living in those areas might want to snap a few photos, especially if they have a newer model of iPhone.

“Some cameras (including newer iPhones) are sensitive enough to take stunning aurora images, even when the aurora is almost or completely invisible to the naked eye,” says Henson. Posted to social site X earlier this month.

Although this weekend’s solar storm is expected to be less intense than ‘extreme (G5) geomagnetic conditions‘ of the powerful CMEs that hit Earth from May 10 to 13, more can be expected as the Sun approaches the most turbulent phase of its cycle.

“We could easily have much bigger storms in the next year or two,” Dr. Jonathan McDowell of the Smithsonian and Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics told DailyMail.com earlier this month.

Sunspot AR3664, now renamed AR3697, is the disturbance on the Sun’s surface that was responsible for the largest G5 solar storms of May this year and is larger than the sunspot that caused the infamous Carrington event of 1859.

The Carrington storm set telegraph wires on fire, disrupted communications worldwide and even disrupted ships’ compasses. A history that could repeat itself and wreak havoc on modern technology if Earth experiences direct hits from these larger solar storms.

The sunspot completed a full rotation around the sun and turned back toward Earth for what appears to be another few active days.

“It’s certainly a scary time for satellite operators,” Dr. McDowell said.

In recent years it has also been proven that large geomagnetic storms can destroy satellites by causing them to collide with other objects in space.

One 2022 geomagnetic storm, the last major storm prior to May, destroyed up to 40 Starlink satellites worth more than $50 million, according to the company.

The upcoming solar storm on Friday and Saturday, caused by a EarthSky.

WHAT IS THE SOLAR CYCLE?

The sun is a huge ball of electrically charged hot gas that moves and creates a powerful magnetic field.

This magnetic field goes through a cycle called the solar cycle.

About every eleven years, the sun’s magnetic field completely reverses, meaning the sun’s north and south poles switch places.

The solar cycle affects activity on the sun’s surface, such as sunspots caused by the sun’s magnetic fields.

Every 11 years, the sun’s magnetic field reverses, meaning the sun’s north and south poles switch places. The solar cycle influences activity on the Sun’s surface, causing the number of sunspots to increase during stronger (2001) phases than weaker (1996/2006) phases

One way to track the solar cycle is to count the number of sunspots.

The beginning of a solar cycle is a solar minimum, or when the Sun has the fewest sunspots. Over time, solar activity – and the number of sunspots – increases.

The middle of the solar cycle is solar maximum, or when the Sun has the most sunspots.

When the cycle ends, it fades back to solar minimum and a new cycle begins.

Giant eruptions on the Sun, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, also increase during the solar cycle.

These eruptions send powerful bursts of energy and material into space that can impact Earth.

For example, eruptions can produce light in the sky, called aurora, or impact radio communications and power grids on Earth.