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Space Weather Warning

Posted by Zonk on from the going-to-have-to-cancel-my-space-picnic dept.

SallyMac writes "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a Space Weather Warning. On Friday, May 13th, NOAA detected a 'geomagnetic storm of extreme proportions'. From the article: 'This event registered a 9 on the K-Index, which measures the maximum deviation of the Earth's magnetic field in a given three-hour period...The scale ranges from 0 to 9, with 9 being the highest. This was a significant event.' See the article on the NOAA site for more information." Spaceweather.com has details on the resulting auroras.

9 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. Thanks for the warning. by syynnapse · · Score: 5, Funny

    I _would_ have taken the freeway home on friday had I known, but instead I got caught in this horrible weather while traveling through the upper atmosphere.
    Way to have 20/20 hindsight NOAA.

    --

    System.out.println(syynnapse.getSig());

  2. Great timing by Stripsurge · · Score: 5, Funny

    Two days ago something happened that could have caused some major problems. It didn't. Oh and be sure to catch the auroras yesterday. They sure were great. Thanks for the heads up ;)

    1. Re:Great timing by tehshen · · Score: 5, Funny

      What's the opposite of news?

      Slashdot

      --
      Guy asked me for a quarter for a cup of coffee. So I bit him.
  3. Northen lights by Brtchlin · · Score: 5, Informative

    i guess that would explain the light show we saw up here in western canada tonight, very vibrant greens, blues, yellows violets and all dancing like mad. I wonder if anyone else in the world is getting them as well?

  4. Shouldn't affect the Internet by Teddy_Roosevelt · · Score: 5, Funny
    Possible impacts from such a geomagnetic storm include widespread power system voltage control problems; some grid systems may experience complete collapse or blackouts.

    Bah. What's the worst that could h...[NO CARRIER]

  5. Corrections by zerbot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What was observed on the 13th was solar flare activity. It doesn't become a geomagnetic storm until it reaches the earth, which it did on the 15th.

    Is it really that hard to copy the right information out of sources?

  6. Wrong write-up by Chran · · Score: 5, Informative

    Noooo ... A solar flare occured Friday, leading to a forecast about the K-9 geomagnetic storm which occured yesterday. Thanks for reading the articles before posting to Slashdot. Woohoo!

  7. Re:I need to find a new primary news source. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sign up to the Spaceweather list at http://science.nasa.gov/news/subscribe.asp?checked =sw

  8. Re:What does this mean for the little man? by redJag · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just to be safe, I'd keep your little man away from it.