Huge flare disrupts power and radio systems across the country
vnunet.com, 17 May 2005
A huge solar flare damaged electronic systems across the US on Sunday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Space Environment Centre.
The flare was detected by the EU/US Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite and was given the highest rating possible by the NOAA.
"This event registered a [maximum] 'nine' on the K-Index, which measures the maximum deviation of the Earth's magnetic field in a given three-hour period," said Gayle Nelson, lead operations specialist at the NOAA Space Environment Centre.
The organisation reported that there had been disruption across the US. Typical problems with flares of this kind are disruption to power voltages in electricity grids and interference across the radio spectrum.
Although the NOAA is not expecting a repeat of the flare in the next 24 hours, it warned that smaller solar storms are likely.
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