Posted on 09/30/2012 10:59:48 PM PDT by PghBaldy
Space Weather Message Code: ALTK06 Serial Number: 294 Issue Time: 2012 Oct 01 0443 UTC
ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 6 Threshold Reached: 2012 Oct 01 0439 UTC Synoptic Period: 0300-0600 UTC Active Warning: Yes NOAA Scale: G2 - Moderate Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 55 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude. Induced Currents - Power grid fluctuations can occur. High-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms. Spacecraft - Satellite orientation irregularities may occur; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites is possible. Radio - HF (high frequency) radio propagation can fade at higher latitudes. Aurora - Aurora may be seen as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington state.
The fact the aurora might be seen as far south as PA (in one of the earlier alerts) is interesting.
Sounds like high solar activity.
Solar winds reacting with our ionosphere and magnetic fields.
That mucks up stuff like radio that exploits natural phenomena.
Temporarily.
Don’t these educated idiots know how to say something in plain English? If it weren’t for the reference to auroras, I would have no idea what they were blabbering about.
THe first rule of writing is that you put your subject of discussion in the first sentence.
I guess they failed English 101.
I’ve seen a red and a green aurora in Arlington,VA and a white one in Baltimore, Md. Diffuse structure but COOL!
Not a big deal, but it could make for some pretty lights.
The Aurora.
Amen.
I haven’t seen the aroura for ages but have seen it as low as Ohio green red and blue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n2myFnE5sA
Dude the would rock in high solar winds.
Are you Navy?
Retired
Also see St Elmo’s fire.
This is an alert intended for those who depend on radio communication systems. It isn’t intended for general consumption.
For those of us who use HF comm systems, it’s written in terse, but perfectly understandable language. The lead-in tells me everything I need to know:
“ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 6”
For those who know about geomagnetic activity and the effects on radio communication, that’s all that really needs to be said. For you to have seen an aurora in the VA/MD area, the K-index was probably 8 or 9.
For those folks who just want a prediction of where an aurora might be visible, there’s a different web site:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html
As for effects on the vast majority of people and their lives: Little to none. If the magnetic field of the earth is hammered quickly with a big flux, then induced ground currents can cause instability or failures in the power grid(s), especially in northern regions (eg, Hydro Quebec).
Never made it to Iceland.
I would go in a heartbeat.
We loved it. One of my favorite duty stations. My wife and I will return for a visit one day.
I never let the name put me off.
One of the best sites for graphical predictions of where you *might* see an aurora based on the Kp index is out of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks:
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Interpreting
One of my Buds, a photographer, had a chance to go to Fairbanks and shoot the Aurora.
It was -50 below and he had the camera buried in his clothes to keep it warm.
He got exactly one green shot of it before the shutter mechanism froze up LoL
He was kinda bummed
I’ve been in temps down to -47F. Winter ceases to be funny below -20F.
One of the things that might have caused your buddy’s camera to freeze up is the condensing moisture on the camera from his body. I’ve found that keeping gear like guns, cameras, etc inside my clothes leads to failures from moisture that condenses on the object (which will be cooler than my body in those temps), and then taking those objects out of my coat means that they freeze up instantly.
I’ve found it to be better to put the item in a dry environment before going outside, and not letting it get moistened by my body when I’m outside. It might be a real bother to deal with cameras, radio equipment and other stuff that’s wicked cold and you need to take off your gloves to operate the fine little buttons and knobs, but the alternative is worse.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.