High Strangeness in the Midwest
By Violet Wisdom
Wednesday July 31,2024 started slightly odd and ended straight up xxxx. Unfortunately we don’t have a specific database for all solar flare effects. One source we do have however lists known radio blackouts which can be found at EarthSky.org. Solar flares between July 29 and today have created numerous radio blackouts worldwide. Most were minor to moderate, one was strong. These blackouts have occurred in India, Africa, Cuba, the Philippines, China, the Middle East, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Hawaii and the Dominican Republic.
Here in the middle of the United States, I noticed our internet and cell service was less than par Wednesday morning. By noon, some people were having issues with their phones freezing up and some apps (specifically GPS) not loading. By evening the internet was all but out and our phones couldn’t even get a text out. My husband mentioned a possible geomagnetic storm and how it was too bad we had clouds because the Northern Lights had the potential to be visible that night. I wondered, how many times could we see the Northern Lights this year?? The first time they were predicted to be visible this far south was exciting, right along with the eclipse. But, at this point it is beginning to feel less like a neat anomaly and more like something of concern.
Not quite ready to sleep and unable to stream anything on television I resorted to antenna t.v. Most of the channels wouldn’t come in, and yes, just like the “good ole” days I ran upstairs and slowly turned the antenna left to right waiting for my husband to yell “Got it!” We usually get around twenty channels, maybe four with something watchable. Wednesday night however, there were only a dozen that would come in. I quit searching as the television landed on the 1990s show Frasier. Half paying attention to the television and half to an article I was reading on my phone, my mind recognized the show had gone to commercial. When the commercials ended the sound from the television once again grabbed my attention. It was not the typical banter of two pretentious psychologists and a peppy British housekeeper. In fact I don’t know what it was because it wasn’t in English. I’m not an expert on foreign languages but I’m pretty good at being able to at least identify a region of non-english language and this time I had no idea what it was. I wondered for a second if somehow that network accidentally switched to a dubbed audio meant for a different geographical audience. If that was the case, the dubbing wasn’t close to matching lip movement. Another commercial break came, in English, and the channel continued on as such. As if to wash away the effects of the flares and geomagnetic storm, a thunderstorm blew through a few hours later.
Whatever it was that caused the minor mayhem, it was all back to normal Thursday morning.
Now before you move on from this story with a perfectly acceptable, huh, that was interesting… the geomagnetic storm scientist have been predicting is actually still on its way. NOAA has issued a full Geomagnetic Storm Warning for August 3 & 4, 2024: This Saturday and Sunday. So be prepared for some strange happenings through the weekend.
Oh yeah, and once again, those Northern Lights will be moving deeper south.
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