Post by woodyz on Mar 13, 2018 17:29:14 GMT -7
Is The March 18th Geomagnetic Storm Going To Wipe Out The Power Grid?
Mac Slavo
March 13th, 2018
SHTFplan.com
www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/is-the-march-18th-geomagnetic-storm-going-to-wipe-out-the-power-grid_03132018
There has been widespread fear that a geomagnetic storm scheduled for March 18 will wipe out power grids and cause panic. Is it time to prepare for the worst?
We can all breathe easy for now. It looks like this threat of grid failure is simply fear mongering. The magnetic storm’s imminent arrival was one of Monday morning’s top science news stories, according to Google News. But the coverage of the storm appeared to be based on a misinterpretation of a chart posted on Russia’s Lebedev Institute’s website showing a minor uptick in geomagnetic activity on the 18th of March. That elevated activity is expected to be a minor storm at most, however.
The United States’s NOAA website shows similar readings in their forecast. March 26th also shows similar data to what is anticipated on March 18th. Geomagnetic storms are rated on a scale of G1 to G5, with G5 being the most extreme. On the 18th and the 26th, readings will likely just barely reach the threshold for a G1, which is a minor geomagnetic storm and won’t likely have any real impact on the power grids. G1 storms happen frequently, about 2,000 times every 11 years, or once every two days.
This scale is based in part on an index created from the amount of magnetic deviation a storm might produce on the ground combined with measurements of a variety of currents with fabulous names, including the “auroral electrojets” and the “field-aligned current.” The measurement of another type of current is called the “disturbance storm time index,” according to NOAA’s website.
Mac Slavo
March 13th, 2018
SHTFplan.com
www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/is-the-march-18th-geomagnetic-storm-going-to-wipe-out-the-power-grid_03132018
There has been widespread fear that a geomagnetic storm scheduled for March 18 will wipe out power grids and cause panic. Is it time to prepare for the worst?
We can all breathe easy for now. It looks like this threat of grid failure is simply fear mongering. The magnetic storm’s imminent arrival was one of Monday morning’s top science news stories, according to Google News. But the coverage of the storm appeared to be based on a misinterpretation of a chart posted on Russia’s Lebedev Institute’s website showing a minor uptick in geomagnetic activity on the 18th of March. That elevated activity is expected to be a minor storm at most, however.
The United States’s NOAA website shows similar readings in their forecast. March 26th also shows similar data to what is anticipated on March 18th. Geomagnetic storms are rated on a scale of G1 to G5, with G5 being the most extreme. On the 18th and the 26th, readings will likely just barely reach the threshold for a G1, which is a minor geomagnetic storm and won’t likely have any real impact on the power grids. G1 storms happen frequently, about 2,000 times every 11 years, or once every two days.
This scale is based in part on an index created from the amount of magnetic deviation a storm might produce on the ground combined with measurements of a variety of currents with fabulous names, including the “auroral electrojets” and the “field-aligned current.” The measurement of another type of current is called the “disturbance storm time index,” according to NOAA’s website.
