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Excerpt from www.cbsnews.com
The strongest geomagnetic storm in more than 20 years slammed Earth on Friday, with explosions of plasma and magnetic fields causing some radio blackouts and the northern lights to extend to the southern U.S. On Monday, officials warned the storms aren’t yet over.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said early Monday that a G3, or “strong,” geomagnetic storm warning was in effect until 2 a.m. ET. While stronger storms are no longer likely and conditions are expected to “gradually wane” throughout the day, the center said in its forecast that moderate to strong geomagnetic storms are “likely” on Monday, as are minor storms on Tuesday.
The center also said “solar activity is expected to be at high levels” with a possibility of more solar flares, or bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the sun.
The update came as another X-class solar flare was recorded. X-class flares are the strongest class of these solar bursts, and the latest was recorded as “moderate.”
“Flares of this magnitude are not frequent,” the center said. “…Users of high frequency (HF) radio signals may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth.”