[HN Gopher] G2 (Moderate) Geomagnetic Storm Watch Issued for 11 ...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       G2 (Moderate) Geomagnetic Storm Watch Issued for 11 October 2021
        
       Author : ag8
       Score  : 37 points
       Date   : 2021-10-10 17:57 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.swpc.noaa.gov)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.swpc.noaa.gov)
        
       | Animats wrote:
       | Hasn't come up in the PJM status dashboard, so the northeastern
       | power grid isn't concerned about it. If they were, there would be
       | a geomagnetic disturbance warning listed:
       | 
       | Last listed event was back in May:                   103172
       | Warning          Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning
       | 05.12.2021 08:50 PJM-RTO         A Geomagnetic Disturbance
       | Warning has been issued          for 08:50 on 05.12.2021
       | through 20:00 on 05.12.2021 .          A GMD warning of K-7 or
       | greater is in effect for this period.
       | 
       | There was no "Alert", the next stage, so no action was required.
       | 
       | That May 12th event produced a minor press release.[1]
       | 
       | PJM has more material about this. See pages 25-67 of their
       | training guide for contingencies.[2] This goes into a lot of
       | detail, from how solar wind influences transmission lines to
       | where the sensors for this are to detailed graphs of transformer
       | heating. Useful info for people who work in power stations.
       | ("Noise: 20 dB jump. - It is pretty loud. Myth: Vibrations can
       | destroy a transformer. Vibration a function of GIC; not a big
       | concern.")
       | 
       | Trouble is related to geography. Ground conductivity, related to
       | iron deposits, matters. There are maps in that training guide.
       | Only some lines are affected. Most problems can be avoided by
       | changing power routing, which is what the PJM control center in
       | Valley Forge PA does all day.
       | 
       | They consider events from G1 to G4 to have minor impact. And,
       | yes, they know all about the Carrington Event and the 1989 event.
       | Which, incidentally, damaged only one transformer but did cause
       | some blackouts.
       | 
       | Before getting wound up about this, go read all that material.
       | 
       | [1] https://insidelines.pjm.com/pjm-issues-geomagnetic-
       | disturban...
       | 
       | [2] https://www.pjm.com/-/media/training/nerc-
       | certifications/gen...
        
       | bonyt wrote:
       | Is this uncommon? Apparently G2 storms happens 600 times per
       | cycle, where a cycle is 11 years?
       | 
       | https://weatherboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Geomagneti...
       | 
       | https://weatherboy.com/g2-geomagnetic-storm-watch-issued-for...
        
         | TrainedMonkey wrote:
         | I believe vast majority of them don't hit Earth.
        
           | shoghicp wrote:
           | A storm is categorized by intensity when it hits Earth.
           | 
           | It is common, but not an everyday occurrence
        
       | fhars wrote:
       | When exactly is "around midday" in a NOAA.gov announcement that
       | has a timestamp in UTC and mentions New York to Washington state
       | as affected areas?
        
       | badrabbit wrote:
       | Will this have any meaningful interference on electronics?
        
         | digitallyfree wrote:
         | I wonder if modern power grids and communication systems have
         | been built to be more resillient against large solar storms.
         | There was one in 1989 that knocked out the Quebec power grid
         | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm).
        
         | panarky wrote:
         | Possible power grid fluctuations, especially at higher
         | latitudes.
         | 
         | Possible issues with spacecraft.
         | 
         | High-frequency radio at high latitudes could fade.
         | 
         | Aurora could be visible as far south as New York, Wisconsin and
         | Washington state in the US.
         | 
         | (FTFA)
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-10-10 23:00 UTC)