Geomagnetic Storm to impact Earth

From NOAA.gov:

A significant geomagnetic storm is expected to impact the Earth beginning early Thursday afternoon around 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, according to forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. Impacts from this event can cause problems with High Frequency communications, satellite operations and induce currents in power grids.

This geomagnetic storm is the result of a strong radio blackout (R3 on the NOAA Space Weather Scales) with an associated moderate (S2) solar radiation storm that was observed by the NOAA space weather forecasters on Tuesday. Also, the SOHO/LASCO instrument observed a powerful and fast-moving coronal mass ejection directed toward Earth with this activity. LASCO (the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph) is a set of three "coronagraph" telescopes onboard the SOHO (Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) satellite. This is a NASA and European Space Agency cooperative effort. Observations from this instrument are used by NOAA space weather forecasters.

“It is a rare occurrence to have a strong event like this so late in the Solar Cycle,” said NOAA Space Weather Forecaster Larry Combs. The NOAA Space Environment Center is monitoring current space weather activity levels and gathering critical real-time space weather data, using the data for the best forecasts and outlooks. SEC is advising its customers—such as NASA, commercial airlines and electric power grid operators—of conditions that directly impact their operation.