How strong can a geomagnetic storm be?
Aurora forecast after a strong geomagnetic storm on September 13, 2014.
A geomagnetic superstorm from the Sun can be very strong but it does not happen frequently. However just like with natural disasters like fires and tornados we need to be prepared. Scientists measure the strength or energy of a geomagnetic storm in Watts, which measures how much energy is transferred in 1 second. A superstorm can dump as much as 5,000 GW (10^9 W) into Earth’s atmosphere at its peak time. That is more than the energy consumption rate of the US (~3,300GW).
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