Hasn't come up in the PJM status dashboard, so the northeastern power grid isn't concerned about it. If they were, there would be a geomagnetic disturbance warning listed:<p>Last listed event was back in May:<p><pre><code> 103172 Warning
Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning
05.12.2021 08:50 PJM-RTO
A Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning has been issued
for 08:50 on 05.12.2021
through 20:00 on 05.12.2021 .
A GMD warning of K-7 or greater is in effect for this period.
</code></pre>
There was no "Alert", the next stage, so no action was required.<p>That May 12th event produced a minor press release.[1]<p>PJM has more material about this. See pages 25-67 of their training guide for contingencies.[2]
This goes into a lot of detail, from how solar wind influences transmission lines to where the sensors for this are to detailed graphs of transformer heating. Useful info for people who work in power stations. ("Noise: 20 dB jump. ‒ It is pretty loud. Myth: Vibrations can destroy a transformer. Vibration a function of GIC; not a big concern.")<p>Trouble is related to geography. Ground conductivity, related to iron deposits, matters. There are maps in that training guide. Only some lines are affected. Most problems can be avoided by changing power routing, which is what the PJM control center in Valley Forge PA does all day.<p>They consider events from G1 to G4 to have minor impact. And, yes, they know all about the Carrington Event and the 1989 event. Which, incidentally, damaged only one transformer but did cause some blackouts.<p>Before getting wound up about this, go read all that material.<p>[1] <a href="https://insidelines.pjm.com/pjm-issues-geomagnetic-disturbance-warning-for-may-12" rel="nofollow">https://insidelines.pjm.com/pjm-issues-geomagnetic-disturban...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.pjm.com/-/media/training/nerc-certifications/gen-exam-materials-feb-18-2019/training-material/02-generation/7-2-conservative-operations.ashx" rel="nofollow">https://www.pjm.com/-/media/training/nerc-certifications/gen...</a>
When exactly is "around midday" in a NOAA.gov announcement that has a timestamp in UTC and mentions New York to Washington state as affected areas?
Is this uncommon? Apparently G2 storms happens 600 times per cycle, where a cycle is 11 years?<p><a href="https://weatherboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GeomagneticStormWarningScale.png" rel="nofollow">https://weatherboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Geomagneti...</a><p><a href="https://weatherboy.com/g2-geomagnetic-storm-watch-issued-for-earth-for-october-11/" rel="nofollow">https://weatherboy.com/g2-geomagnetic-storm-watch-issued-for...</a>
I think it peaks around 4-5 pm UTC which translates to about noon to 1pm eastern time. G2 is pretty minimal but the WSA-Enlil graphic show some interesting effects when you move the scroll bar manually. The Lasco Coronagraph does too (see <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/electric-power-community-dashboard" rel="nofollow">https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/electric-power-communi...</a>)