I read that the flare @Don Alaska started this topic about "created a massive tsunami of plasma that rippled across the entire solar disk." The plasma wave reached heights of 100,000km...that would submerge 15 Earths stacked on top of each other!!!! While the corolla mass ejection will take over 2 days to reach us, the solar protons created by the exploding sunspot that started it all traveled the 93,000,000 miles to Earth in under an hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The protons are the little "snowflakes." Link to Spaceweather article here.
Some are ridiculing this, but I didn't intend for people to panic. It will affect us in the north more than those in southern climes, but it never hurts to turn off a computer.... We may get some satellite interruption as it is not uncommon here. The fiber optic cables are less likely to break up, but they don't reach all areas of this state. I heard mention that some area of the grid may experience outages, especially in Canada and northern parts of the U.S. I don't even have a sterling silver bra....
The impact at the poles is always much different. I find this stuff to be fascinating, even though I was complicit in dragging this thread off-topic. And it is amazing the the satellites almost always escape unscathed. Here is why Don and other more northern members are more impacted by this stuff than the rest of us: As the illustrations shows, those magnetic fields are weakest at the poles, so offer the least protection from solar activity at those locations (which is one role our magnetic field plays.)
I am not ridiculing you Don or anyone else, just all the scare information out there that lacks any scientific validity. Someone without knowledge posts it on the internet and thousands of others repeat it. Just like Y2K date issue, there is no way a solar flare and resulting corona discharges in the poles can harm your computer or any other electronic device. I challenge anyone that thinks I am wrong to explain in their own words and from their understanding how it is possible. I appreciate your post and was politely and scientifically trying to explain why there was no reason for anyone to worry about electronic device damage and while unplugging and unhooking devices in a lightning storm is important, it isn't during a solar flare and resulting storm. My post in MY OWN WORDS and from my own knowledge was basically ignored. I posted again further explaining why I felt no reason for worry about any damaging results from the coming events of this evening and tomorrow morning. Again basically ignored and my thoughts didn't spur any discussion on how this event would cause electronic device damage. I resort to sarcastic humor when I feel my time in posting info from my brain instead of being a parrot, isn't appreciated.
If it is plugged into the grid, a computer might be at risk. One of the times when a laptop or tablet would be safer. I have already lost a couple DSL modems thanks to this (according to my ISP).
We used to see those when I lived in north Idaho, @Don Alaska , and I loved looking at them when they “came out” on some nights. I remember my mother waking me up late at night to come out of bed and look at the beauty of the Northern Lights. I know that the ones you have in Alaska are far more beautiful than what we had in Idaho, but even those were totally awesome. I miss that we can’t see anything like that down here in the south.
Why Don? Please explain. Daily spikes in the grid can cause damage to older computers if one doesn't use a voltage spike regulator. What causes the grid to go down doesn't matter. The only concern about the grid is if a satellite used to control the grid was affected in some way by the solar activity, which again would be extremely rare. In that case, the electricity would go off the same as if a power pole was knocked down or they pulled a switch. The effect on any electronic device would be the same.
The tech said the grounds in my area are not great. We sit on an old glacial moraine, and, while that insulates us from all but the stronger earthquakes, it apparently does not conduct well. Our entire area suffers from this and I assume it would affect other areas as well with similar substrate. With the shaky ground I suspect even GFCI stuff may not work as well as it should, but I have not experienced any issues with that. Perhaps @Frank Sanoica would have some answers for that. By the way, has anyone heard from him lately? The character of his recent posts was disquieting.
I may have mentioned that when USGS came here in response to our Quake of 2011, a friend's house was undamaged and their sensors found out why. It turns out that there are 3 plates surrounding his property and his house sits on a 4th one that kind floats, unattached to the others. Fascinating stuff. Regarding Frank: I believe he has taken breaks before (if you're referring to that "slamming exit" comment.) But he posted a couple of regular comments after that, so he should be good (I hope.) I've sometimes felt the same way both here and elsewhere, but usually hang around to keep my immune system strong
0349 hours PST clear skies and cold morning. All electronics working as expected. Still no explanation from any source why today's activities would affect electronic devices. I see warning after warning about possible grid, internet, and cell phone failures, but not one scientific explanation why. 0430 PST light blueish glow with white streaks dispersing up the sky.