Adding data from observatories on the ground, scientists predicted a bright solar flare and its energetic proton shower July 13. The flare coincided with a coronal mass ejection, which sent billions of tons of plasma into space traveling at four million miles per hour, two times faster than normal. A shock wave is the leading edge of an ejection that is something like a wave you might see pushing in front of a boat in water. NOAA space weather forecasters, using ACE data, can provide a one hour notice before the start of a geomagnetic storm. The shock waves cause an effect like the striking of a bell.
Vibrations move up and down the entire magnetosphere.
Without reliable data, NOAA space weather forecasters had to wait until Earth's magnetic field became distorted before they knew that the disturbance had arrived. Its effects were widespread. Cameras and star-tracking navigation devices on several satellites were flooded with solar particles. Measurements from particle detectors and other instruments on several NOAA and NASA satellites were either degraded or shut down temporarily. On the ground, aurora light shows could be seen as far south as El Paso, Texas.