Largest Solar Flare On Record Could Disrupt Communications On Gulf Coast

KWTX 10
Sep. 08, 2005

One of the largest solar flares on record was observed Wednesday by forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. and continued eruptions could interfere with communications along the hurricane stricken U.S. Gulf Coast.

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NOAA forecasters say more solar eruptions are possible and they say there could be disruptions in spacecraft operations, electric power systems, high frequency communications and low-frequency navigation systems.

"This flare, the fourth largest in the last 15 years, erupted just as the Region 808 sunspot cluster was rotating onto the visible disk of the sun," said Larry Combs, solar forecaster at the NOAA Space Environment Center.

"This event created a complete blackout of high frequency communications on the day lit side of Earth, which included the entire U.S. and basically anywhere the sun was shinning at this time," Combs said.

"Communications used by emergency services along the Gulf Coast may have experienced problems due to this flare. Low frequency navigation systems may also have experienced a period of significant degradation," he said.