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The United States is experiencing a power outage due to a powerful solar storm

The United States is experiencing a power outage due to a powerful solar storm

By Stacy Liberatore for Dailymail.com

19:04 29 May 2024, updated 19:04 29 May 2024



Power outages were reported in parts of the United States after the sun shot a powerful stream of energetic particles toward Earth early Wednesday morning.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has shown that the disturbances are over Midwestern and Eastern regions of the country at approximately 10:36 a.m. ET.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also stated that the interference could affect radar, GPS, and satellite communications.

The Daily Mail website reported on Tuesday that the agency expected a 60 percent chance of a radio outage, which is expected to continue until the end of the week.

Radio outages were reported in parts of the United States after the Sun shot a powerful stream of energetic particles toward Earth early Wednesday morning.

The sunspot that triggered the stream is the same area that caused the superstorm earlier this month.

The event was scheduled to be one of the worst in history, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to issue an alert – the first of its kind since 2005.

This event disabled GPS, power grids, agricultural equipment, and satellites in orbit.

The spot, which is much cooler than the surface surrounding the Sun, has spent the past two weeks moving away from Earth, but reappeared in our planet’s view this week.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) held a briefing earlier this month when the world was under a severe geomagnetic storm, a major disturbance in the Earth’s magnetosphere, and acknowledged that sunspots would likely come back for another round.

Over the past 24 hours, solar activity has been considered “moderate”, with at least 21 flares shooting out with the two most powerful flares set off in the early hours of Wednesday.

Over the past 24 hours, solar activity has been deemed “moderate”, with at least 21 flares shooting out with the two powerful flares set off in the early hours of Wednesday.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) dashboard currently shows a 60 percent chance of black radio waves from at least Wednesday through Friday, with a 10 percent chance of solar radiation storms.

Solar radiation storms occur when large amounts of charged particles, protons and electrons, are accelerated by processes occurring at or near the Sun.

When these processes occur, the near-Earth satellite environment is bathed in high-energy particles.

The particles can interact with our planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere, causing disruption to satellite communications, as well as radiation risks to astronauts in space and interference with power grids.

Also expected this week is a stunning aurora borealis, which will likely be visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Sun currently has eight active sunspots on its side facing Earth.

NOAA said two areas, 3691 and 3697, could release higher-than-normal flares this week.