The challenges are that very few facilities are hardened against this kind of effect,” he said, further admitting electronics are still “vulnerable.”Īnd with a mass global embrace of people doing business online, the threat and damage could be more widespread than ever before. “Electrical grid power issues are what we’re used to seeing with PG&E shutdowns. If the threat becomes real, Godley warned the county would take its systems off the grid in a process called “decoupling.”įrom there, the county would treat its community systems like those its citizens have and warn the community to power down and unplug computers and medical equipment. “A solar flare could cause significant problems for our community,” he said. Godley noted the degradation of radio transmitters is more apt to occur with solar pulses. There’s not one grand plan to alleviate the full effects of a massive solar flare. “Unfortunately, with solar weather, it’s not just one and done,” Godley said. “You could have about 1,000 waves of regular height, then this one comes up,” he said. In agreeing with Biesecker, Godley equated the issue to a sneaker wave in the ocean. Power disruptions make up one in about three dozen threats most state and local emergency services officials track and respond to, said Sonoma County Director of Emergency Management Christopher Godley. Power grid managers work off a 44-page document that highlights the threat and processes to alleviate such problems. Massive disruptions could lead to voltage collapse or even a blackout or combination thereof. Managers of the state power grid, the California ISO, also cautioned that a “geomagnetic disturbance“-induced event may cause transformer hot-spot heating or damage in addition to a loss of reactive power sources and with that increased power demand. “A power grid operator can model a response upon a solar storm,” he said, adding aviation alerts as another notification space weather officials use to warn the public. Local impact of solar weatherĪgencies and local governments face a whole slew of challenges associated with these electromagnetic spikes. If the activity is increased, we may have to replace transformers,” NOAA solar physicist Doug Biesecker said. “The one thing we know about transformers is they build up damage over time. These balls of fury from the sun serve as electromagnetic waves that can damage transmission equipment acutely or over time. From there, the Northern California utility company sends out alerts internally when a geomagnetic storm is approaching to protect its critical infrastructure. PG&E’s meteorology team told the Business Journal that it factors in space weather events, particularly during episodes of heightened solar activity. The panel stated power grids are susceptible to these electromagnetic spikes and power transformers in particular are vulnerable - not a good sign for regions characterized as “power vulnerable” like the Pacific Gas and Electric-reliant North Bay. Most don’t make landfall, but the few that do really do matter,” he said. NOAA solar physicist Doug Biesecker told the Business Journal about an “epic, 100-year solar storm that missed the Earth” in July 2012. Even doves released at weddings have been known to be out of whack. These coronal mass ejections have been known to disrupt the power grid and on-the-ground transformers as well as air traffic operations, satellite transmissions, space travel, global positioning systems and all sorts of telecommunications outlets. The “25” refers to the number of time periods that the astrophysicists have formally studied the atmospheric phenomenon. 15 was called “Solar Cycle 25,” which is predicted to be a weaker 11-year cycle than some. The out-of-this-world threat has local consequences if it materializes, so local emergency and utility officials are tracking space weather warnings to see when action is needed to protect critical systems, such as grid transformers and medical equipment.Īs of last December, bursts of energy from the sun’s corona - the outermost part of its atmosphere, seen during eclipses - started increasing in its latest cycle and will continue to do so, according to a panel led by NASA and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. As if the North Bay hasn’t fought enough battles with the coronavirus, wildfires and power outages, here’s another possible “corona” threat - solar outbursts and flares that are expected to peak in 2025.
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