When these particles arrive on Earth, they disrupt its magnetic field, sometimes resulting in impressive northern lights but also a degradation of high-frequency communications, disruptions for satellites and overloads on the electrical network.
“We are currently expecting an arrival between tomorrow morning and tomorrow noon”, i.e. between late morning and mid-afternoon in GMT time, “and that the storm may continue” until Friday, said Shawn Dahl of the space weather agency at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) told reporters.
Earth hit by new solar storm: northern lights could be visible tonight
The particles moving at a speed of four million kilometers per hour, this corresponds to a level 4 geomagnetic storm on a scale of 5, according to this organization. The May solar storm had reached level 5.
More precise forecasts can only be communicated 15 to 30 minutes before impact, when the storm will cross dedicated satellites.
The federal agency for responding to natural disasters, FEMA, already under pressure to manage the consequences of the deadly Hurricane Helen and the arrival of its dangerous successor Milton, was informed, according to Shawn Dahl, as were the network managers North American Electric Power Supply so they can take the necessary steps to avoid overloads.
In October 2003, a “Halloween” solar storm plunged entire parts of Sweden into darkness and damaged energy infrastructure in South Africa.
Northern lights expected this weekend in Belgium
In May, farmers in the Midwest in the northern United States observed malfunctions in their GPS systems and the storm caused problems with high-voltage transformers, without massive disruption to the power grid, added Shawn Dahl.
The orbital level of more than 5,000 satellites had to be corrected due to the disturbances.
Rare northern lights could be observed in Belgium as in other European countries.
