Direct hit by solar radiation storm expected Friday

August 7th UPDATE: Both NASA and astrophysicist Michio Kaku have been warning of the possibility of a massive solar flare arriving on Earth. So far, three sunspots have unleased M class flares up to M9.3, while auroras were seen as far south as Alabama and Oklahoma on August 5. In the southern hemisphere,  areas with the auroras were South Africa, Southern Australia and Southern Chile, the largest geomagnetic storm since October of 2003. A massive G4 storm was also created, enough to make several power and radio outages occur. 

A magnificent Solar Radiation Storm shock will arrive on Earth late Aug. 4 or early Aug. 5, as predicted by SolarstormWatch. After several years of peaceful solar slumber, active sunspots have now been unleashed for three days in a row…with the latest sun blast registering a powerful M9.3.

According to NOAA in Boulder, CO, USA, the Earth’s energetic protons have increased 100-fold since the solar eruption, setting off an onset of proton warnings and alerts for type II radio emissions, x-ray events exceeding M5 and 10cm radio bursts on August 3rd.

Space Weather reports that two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are propelling toward Earth from sunspot 1261 and 1263, erupting on Aug. 2 and Aug. 3. The magnetic field of Earth will receive mild to moderate geomagnetic storms when the CMEs arrive this Friday, releasing an M6 class flare from the larger 1261, hitting Earth at 15:00 UTC.

The arriving solar storms can create many extra electrical currents in the magnetosphere of Earth if conditions are right. Because of the vulnerability of Earth’s electrical power grid toward extra currents, things to watch for are overheated electrical transformers when high-voltage transmission lines are infiltrated. (Universe Today)

Both solar flares were captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory at 22:00 UTC on Aug. 3rd, causing a 3-day solar geophysical forecast to be issued last night. Solar activity is expected to remain high to moderate until the 6^th, with a threat of  major events from both sunspots plausible.

Minor to major storms are expected at high latitudes, showing geomagnetic activity with the arrival of the CMEs. Protons are expected to exceed their normal threshold because of the CME arrivals.