Solar storm alert! STRONG solar winds set to strike Earth tomorrow

After a few days of downtime, the Sun has woken up in a rage! On October 26, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a space weather agency in the US reported that a powerful burst of solar winds escaped from the Sun’s smiley face shaped dark spots. And now, the most recent predictions have revealed that the solar storm will strike the Earth tomorrow, October 29. Recently, we saw what a powerful solar storm can do when the rescue operations in the US after the Hurricane Ian needed to be stopped after the radio systems were disrupted due to the incoming magnetic flux. Read on to know what this solar storm is capable of.

The report came from SpaceWeather.com which noted on its website, “NOAA forecasters say there is a chance of G1-class solar storms on Oct. 29th when a stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing from a cheerful hole in the sun’s atmosphere. High latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend”.

Solar storm to strike the Earth tomorrow

While it is not possible to gauge how intense the resultant solar storm can be, it is likely that it will not be a very intense storm. However, it is still capable of causing disruptions to radiowaves and causing a radio blackout. This can also impact GPS systems. As a result, flight timings can be delayed and ship transportation can be affected. If you are planning to travel tomorrow, you should check whether you fall into the solar storm prone area or not.

However, with the Sun nearing its peak, there is always a risk of a powerful G5-class solar storm strike. Such a solar storm can have a disastrous impact on the planet as they can damage satellites, impact mobile networks and internet connectivity as well as cause power grid failure. Although humans will not be directly impacted by the radiation, due to disruptions to emergency services and power outages at places of high importance, it can still cause a high number of deaths. Scientists are trying to build a system to better understand how these solar storms function but at present we can only predict such storms only after an eruption on the Sun. This, at best, gives us 2-3 days of time before the storm hits the Earth.