Class 3 Geomaganetic Storm Likely To Spawn Aurora

October 24, 2003 1:42 PM

Forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo., observed two dynamic areas of the sun, one of which has produced a coronal mass ejection, or CME, Wednesday morning at 3 a.m. EDT that appears to be Earth-directed. The forecasters are predicting a strong geomagnetic storm, G-3 on the NOAA Space Weather Scales, that should reach Earth on Friday, October 24. Satellite and other spacecraft operations, power systems, high frequency communications, and navigation systems may experience disruptions over this two-week period. Auroras visible in the lower 48 states are possible tonight and tomorrow.
posted by y2karl (22 comments total)

This is f*cking awesome. I'll be out prowling the streets of Seattle in search of the show.
posted by xmutex at 1:44 PM on October 24, 2003

scroll down
posted by dolface at 1:48 PM on October 24, 2003

cool! it hasn't even peaked yet and already i've made 4 confirmed dx contacts in australia at 873.4725mhz on my cellphone! maude! fire up the osterizer!
posted by quonsar at 2:08 PM on October 24, 2003

y2karl! Say it ain't so. Not you!
posted by soyjoy at 2:09 PM on October 24, 2003

Dude, tonight I am so totally going to mass eject towards the wife's corona.

No, wait, that's corneas.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:14 PM on October 24, 2003

rofl mr davis!
posted by alms at 2:19 PM on October 24, 2003

Double trouble
posted by Outlawyr at 2:48 PM on October 24, 2003

y2karl! Say it ain't so. Not you!

H'mm, that did not leap out as I scrolled down...
posted by y2karl at 3:04 PM on October 24, 2003

posted by scarabic at 3:08 PM on October 24, 2003

posted by brownpau at 3:13 PM on October 24, 2003

I'll take double posts over Iraqfilter anyday. (And it was a nice write-up.)
posted by keswick at 3:39 PM on October 24, 2003

Ohhh, Crash, you do make speeches.
posted by trharlan at 4:39 PM on October 24, 2003

I'm far, far more concerned at the lack of title attributes in y2k's post.
posted by Stan Chin at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2003

Don't be so modest, scarabic! You saw it all 18 months ago!
posted by squirrel at 5:58 PM on October 24, 2003

Best.Broken.Link.Evar.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:51 PM on October 24, 2003

losers
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 7:18 PM on October 24, 2003

Early reports show that Metafilter is already suffering from what astronomers are calling "Link Bounce." Links can apparently bounce off the troposphere in the presence of strong solar radiation and cause a sort of "echo," which users of Metafilter perceive as the same link repeated later in time with some distortion.
posted by rusty at 8:19 PM on October 24, 2003

LOOK AT ME
I'M TIME TRAVELLING
posted by angry modem at 9:20 PM on October 24, 2003

Nothing matters except me.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:54 PM on October 24, 2003

posted by angry modem at 10:11 PM on October 24, 2003

Well, my Spaceweather.com alert reads in part:

As a result of ongoing solar activity, auroras are possible tonight in the United States, Canada, southern Australia, New Zealand, and much of Europe. In the U.S.A. northern border states such as Maine, Michigan, and Washington are favored--and, of course, Alaska. Sky watchers are advised to get away from city lights, if possible, and pay extra attention to their sky around local midnight, when auroras are most likely to appear.

I have seen bright aurora here, and in the city yet. It was really something to see--overhead there were these strobing waves and splashes of sparkles and to the north hung a cloud of green. And this was from the roof of a building on Capitol Hill, just above the streetlights, mind you. What I wouldn't have given to have seen them out in the country that night.

It's around 10:30 now, an hour and a half from midnight. We shall see.
posted by y2karl at 10:31 PM on October 24, 2003

let's get pregnant let's get hectic.
posted by trondant at 3:51 PM on October 25, 2003