Yesterday (Dec. 7th @ 1632 UT), the relatively small spot unleashed a C7-class solar flare and hurled a CME toward Earth – Worldwide Earthquake Intensity will increase along with disruptions in signals and GPS units …
A pulse of X-rays from the flare ionized the top of Earth’s atmosphere, causing a minor shortwave radio blackout over South America. Affected frequencies were mainly below 10 MHz. Ironically, the flare itself was a source of strong radio emissions. Ham radio operators may have heard a ‘roar’ of solar static during the blackout.
The explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. Coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) show a halo CME leaving the sun a few hours after the flare.
Analysts have modeled the storm cloud; their results confirm that it will likely reach Earth during the second half of Dec. 9th. En route to our planet, the CME will scoop up some slower-moving material from an unrelated solar wind stream. The combined impact could spark geomagnetic storms as strong as category G3, although lesser G1- to G2-class storms are more likely.
More information will be given as the storm hits the planet. Follow the reconnecting Project Destini and California Fault Stress Model for seismic activity.
WEATHER – Weather across the Southland will continue the offshore Santa Ana Wind conditions through evening where the Santa Ana Wind Warning will expire. Teleconnection values still indicate the last half of December having a number of storms into California. The question right now is; How far south will they go?