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Old 20-06-2011, 03:23 PM
gary
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gary is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Mt. Kuring-Gai
Posts: 5,999
Quebec 1989

Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes View Post
There must have been hudreds of flares in the last 100 years. Is they any record of effects other than long range radio communication problems.

Barry
Hi Barry,

Indeed there is, the most famous probably being the March 13th 1989 event with
Hydro-Quebec Power. The solar storm brought down a sizable part of the Quebec
grid and chaos ensued.

With night time temperatures in Toronto well below zero, millions found themselves
cold and without power. The airports were closed and schools and businesses
were shut as was the metro. Street lights, traffic lights and so on went out. Some people
got caught stuck in dark buildings.

Other grids in New York and New England were also affected by the same solar storm.

This particular incident comes up in the professional electrical engineering
press now and then. Ever since that event, power authorities at those latitudes
seem to have taken it on as a cautionary tale.

Best regards

Gary
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