A powerful solar storm put on an amazing skyward light show across the globe overnight but has caused what appeared to be only minor disruptions to the electric power grid, communications and satellite positioning systems.A powerful solar storm put on an amazing skyward light show in San Bernardino County across the globe overnight.
NOAA predicted that strong flares will continue through at least Sunday, and a spokeswoman said in an email that the agency's Space Weather Prediction Center had prepared well for the storm. In the U.S., Friday's night's solar storm pushed the lights much further south than normal. People in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and other Midwestern states were able to capture photos of colors along the horizon.
NOAA alerted operators of power plants and spacecraft in orbit, as well as FEMA, to take precautions. Snap a picture of the sky and "there might be actually a nice little treat there for you," said Mike Bettwy, operations chief for the prediction center. An extreme geomagnetic storm in 2003, for example, took out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.