Minnesota

Radio communications on earth knocked out by powerful solar flare

Published

1 year ago

December 15, 2023

Press Room

Radio communications on earth knocked out by powerful solar flare

Powerful solar flare knocks out radio communications on Earth

01:22

BOULDER, Colorado — A powerful solar flare temporarily knocked out radio communications on Earth Thursday afternoon.

Shawn Dahl with the Space Weather Prediction Center says the strong solar flare, along with what’s called a radio burst, sent a wave of energy and radiation right at planet Earth.

“The strength we saw yesterday on those particular bands was almost 10,000 times the normal background that comes from the sun,” Dahl said.

Scientists say this is the largest flare since 2017, and possibly one of the largest ever recorded.

MORE NEWS: YouTuber’s critique of Minnesota state flag finalists draws nearly 1 million views

“Any space weather event coming from the sun will not harm you as long as you’re on the surface of the planet. There are industries that could be impacted though, like our technologies — GPS accuracy, communication issues as we experienced during the event yesterday,” Dahl said.

FAA facilities across the country reported those radio issues Thursday afternoon. One employee said they’ve never seen anything like it.

Forecasters say this storm could also lead to the northern lights over the next several days. And with the solar cycle still ramping up, there will be even more solar storms to come.

MORE NEWS: Matthew Perry toxicology report reveals cause of death was “acute effects of ketamine”

“Between now and all the way up through 2025, perhaps even into the initial part of 2026, we could still have pretty normal space weather activity going on if things continue,” Dahl said.

Adam Del Rosso

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, weather has been a passion for Adam for as long as he can remember! Whether it was thunderstorms or winter storms, Adam has always been geeking out. After earning his meteorology degree from Penn State, he made his way to the Ohio Valley to forecast for WTOV.

Source link

Related Topics:Featured NASA Planet science space

Click to comment

Minnesota

NEXT Weather: 10 p.m. report for Minnesota from Dec. 21, 2024

Published

2 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

NEXT Weather: 10 p.m. report for Minnesota from Dec. 21, 2024 – CBS Minnesota

Watch CBS News

Saturday was our last cold day for a while, with a warm-up arriving Sunday and lasting through the holiday week.

Source link

Minnesota

Party City to shutter hundreds of stores across the U.S., including 10 in Minnesota

Published

10 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Party City to shutter hundreds of stores across the U.S., including 10 in Minnesota

Hit by headwinds including inflationary pressures, competition from e-commerce sites, big box retailers, pop-up stores and even a helium shortage, Party City is going out of business.

The closing of the nation’s largest party supply store, reported by CNN on Friday, is expected to shutter more than 700 retail stores in North America by the end of February, including 10 stores in Minnesota.

According to the company’s website, Party City has outlets in Apple Valley, Bloomington, Chanhassen, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Roseville, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park and Woodbury. Employees contacted at stores in Roseville, St. Cloud and Apple Valley said they had heard of the closing but could not comment.

Party City, which sells everything from balloons, costumes and birthday banners to gender reveal props and New Year’s Eve tiaras, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023. That resulted in the cancellation of nearly $1 billion in debt.

The 38-year-old New Jersey-based company exited bankruptcy after naming a new CEO, Barry Litwin, in August. But the company was still contending with more than $800 million in debt, according to CNN. The New York Times reported the company employed more than 16,000 people.

Source link

Minnesota

Report: Falcons likely to cut former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins

Published

18 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Report: Falcons likely to cut former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins

The Atlanta Falcons are likely to cut Kirk Cousins before mid-March, less than a year after he left the Minnesota Vikings to head to Georgia.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that “executives across the leave” believe Cousins’ exit from Atlanta will happen before a $10 million roster bonus is due on Mar. 17, with Schefter citing “multiple sources” who say a split is now inevitable.

It comes in the week that Falcons made the decision to bench Cousins in favor of rookie QB Michael Penix, Jr., whom the Falcons drafted at No. 8 in March shortly after signing Cousins to a four-year, $160 million deal.

Given Cousins has a no-trade clause in his Falcons contract, Schefter notes that it’s unlikely Atlanta will be able to find a suitable deal to trade Cousins, meaning he’s likely to hit the free agent market for the second year running.

Cousins entered the season still recovering from the Achilles injury that ended his final year with the Vikings, and has struggled under center, with the tipping point for Atlanta coming after a 41-21 loss in Minnesota to the Vikings and a 15-9 win over the struggling Las Vegas Raiders, where Cousins threw for only 112 yards, one TD and one INT.

He still showed flashes of his old brilliance however, namely in the 31-26 win over the Tampa Bay Bucaneers in late October, when he threw for 276 yards and four TDs.

After moving on from Cousins, the Vikings signed Sam Darnold for a one-year, $10 million deal and drafted JJ McCarthy with the 10th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Source link