Summit County Citizens Voice

Charged particles from sun may affect a few electronic devices

A solar flare and coronal mass ejection on the sun are likely to trigger a geomagnetic storm on Earth beginning Tuesday morning. PHOTO COURTESY NASA SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The strongest solar storm since 2005 is only having a minimal impact on Earth, where some aircraft communications may be degraded in polar regions.

The eruptions on the sun are likely to result in a geomagnetic storm on Earth starting about 9 a.m. EST and continuing into Wednesday. Geomagnetic storms have the potential to impact power grids, where voltage corrections may be required. Such storms have also been known to trigger false alarms on some protective devices.

There could also be problems with intermittent satellite navigation and low frequency navigation devices.

According to the National Weather Service strong geomagnetic storms can also lead to bright hauroras in high latitude skies.

According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, the radiation storm has been slowly intensifying since Monday morning and was reaching it peak late Monday night.

Updates will be posted at the Space Weather site as we learn more or follow us on Facebook.

Filed under: Colorado, Summit County Colorado, Summit County news Tagged: | coronal mass ejection, Geomagnetic storm, Solar flare, solar storm, Summit County News