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Level S4 solar radiation event

swpc.noaa.gov

11–20 of 205 posts

Re: Level S4 solar radiation event

#12
PJM had some geomagnetic disturbance warnings, but did not progress to the alert stage or grid re-configuation actions. So, no US power grid problems.

    104955 Warning Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning 01.19.2026 14:30 
    PJM-RTO
    A Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning has been issued for
    14:30 on 01.19.2026 through 16:00 on 01.19.2026 .
    A GMD warning of K8 or greater is in effect for this period. 
    End time: 01.19.2026 16:00 
(All times are prevailing Eastern US time)

I've posted on this before, for other warnings. Not going to repeat that.

Re: Level S4 solar radiation event

#13

Do you need long exposure to make it visible with a camera? How does that work in the presence of light pollution?

Tonight I could see the colours without the camera but it definitely stands out more with the long exposure of the camera.

Even with lights in the direct line of the shot you you can get good results - presumably the phone is doing HDR to achieve this.

Re: Level S4 solar radiation event

#17

Years ago I was concerned about this and made a plan with my wife for what to do if she was at work. But now we have a bunch of kids in different schools and haven't updated our plan. Does anyone have a plan for what happens if we have a really bad event?

Keep a couple days water and food on hand, go up to the pub, have a pint, and wait for this all to blow over.

Re: Level S4 solar radiation event

#20

This page looks like an accessibility nightmare. The entire warning text is an image. There is no transcription present for screen reader users. I did not expect this from a government website.

Not like someone with poor vision is going to be able to see the aurora borealis that results

/s

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