The following information was provided to MEMA by the Federal Emergency Management Agency:
Location: Global
•The largest solar flare in five years is racing toward Earth, threatening to unleash a torrent of charged particles that could disrupt power grids, global positioning systems (GPS) and airplane flights
•The sun erupted Tuesday evening, and the effects should start hitting Earth around 7 a.m. EST Thursday, according to forecasters at the Space Weather Prediction Center
◦The solar storm is likely to last t! hrough Friday morning, but the region of the sun that erupted can still send more blasts, a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said
•Solar storms can disrupt technology on Earth through magnetic, radio and radiation emissions
◦All three types of disruptions are likely to be strong with the current storm, the scientist reported
•The magnetic part of the storm has the potential to trip electrical power grids, and power companies have been alerted to possible outages
•The storms can also make GPS less accurate, can cause communication problems and add radiation around the north and south poles, which will likely force airlines to reroute flights
•Satellites could also be affected
NEW: Follow me on Twitter @WC1MA, and Facebook handle WC1MA
Regards and 73,
Michael P. Neilsen, W1MPN
State RACES Officer (Acting);
Member of the MEMT;
Member of the MA State Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC), and Policies and Programs subcommittee;
Chairperson, Amateur Radio Working Group
New Office Answering Service: 978.293.7858
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