MADRID, 10 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) warned this Friday in its X account of the probability of a “severe geomganetic storm” occurring this weekend.
“At least seven Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are in transit” from a sunspot region in full activity, coinciding with the peak of the solar cycle.
The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) of the United States indicates that the probability of risk of a geomagnetic storm continues during the weekend, “although the exact timing remains somewhat uncertain.”
As a result of an event classified as G4 on a scale of 5 as expected, there may be effects on High Frequency (HF) communications, the GPS network, power plants (voltage control), spacecraft, satellite navigation, and other technologies. NOAA states that “critical infrastructure operators have been notified.”
For context, only three severe geomagnetic storms have been observed so far in this solar cycle that began in 2019; the last one was a brief event in March 2023. However, this is the first G4 level advisory issued by the SWPC since 2005. The last extreme event (G5) occurred with the Halloween Storms in 2003.
The cause of the geomagnetic storm risk lies in a large and complex sunspot cluster in solar region 3664, which is 16 times the diameter of the Earth, where more activity is still expected amid the current maximum activity of the solar cycle.
The Sun has intensified the emission of powerful flares in the last week. Solar flares are powerful explosions of energy. Solar flares and eruptions can affect radio communications, electrical power grids, navigation signals and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.
