Solar activity has already increased, and will continue to build through the next year. Each time there is a solar event, NOAA's National Weather Service will include information on the event in its transmission of weather data. This week, NOAA introduced the first ever scales designed to characterize the severity and impact of upcoming solar storms on public safety and services. For the first time, we can predict the impact of solar storms, and these storms may be a real Y2K problem. Hildner said that physical measurements on the scales will help the scientific and operations communities consistently identify the intensity of solar events.
Solar storms can vary.
Some are equivalent to a thunderstorm on Earth, while others may be more severe, with intensity similar to a hurricane or tornado. John Kappenman, a senior engineer at Metatech in Duluth, Minnesota, explained that space storms can impact the operational reliability of electrical transmission systems worldwide. During the last solar cycle in 1989, the entire province of Quebec went dark because a geomagnetic storm caused power lines to overload. NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder is responsible for issuing warnings, watches and forecasts of the space environment and potential impacts on Earth. The Center continuously monitors the solar environment with a complex array of ground based observations and satellites operated by NOAA and its national and international partners.