A backhand slap from end of solar storm
<p>The northern lights or aurora borealis fill the western sky Friday, March 9, 2012, above the Russian Orthodox Saint Nicholas Memorial Chapel in Kenai, Alaska. The display of lights came in the aftermath of a solar storm that struck Earth on Thursday. (AP Photo/Peninsula Clarion, M. Scott Moon)</p>
<p>The Northern Lights are seen in the skies near Faskusfjordur on the east coast of Iceland Thursday March 8, 2012. A solar storm shook the Earth's magnetic field early Friday, but scientists said they had no reports of any problems with electrical systems. After reports Thursday of the storm fizzling out, a surge of activity prompted space weather forecasters to issue alerts about changes in the magnetic field. (AP Photo/Jonina Oskardottir)</p>
WASHINGTON (AP) — Space weather forecasters say the solar storm that seemed to be more fizzle than fury got much stronger overnight. It's now the most potent solar storm since 2004.
So far, no power outages or other technological disturbances have been reported from the solar storm that started on Tuesday.
It reached Earth on Thursday morning at mild levels. But for several hours early Friday morning it turned strong. Scientists say that's because the magnetic orientation of the storm flipped.
And more is coming. The federal government's Space Weather Prediction Center says the same area of the sun erupted again Thursday night, with a milder storm expected in the early hours of Sunday morning.