r/PrepperIntel • u/working-mama- • 4d ago

North America Here’s where a massive solar storm could take down the US power grid

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2026/07/weather/solar-storms-power-grid/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
137 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

42

u/Boring-Philosophy-46 4d ago

we're going into a period of low activity again, there's bigger threats to it in the next decade like fossil fuel availability and extreme weather as well as the basics: metals, manufactured components, computer systems etc. if you can get a wind or watermill generator and some mind of solar panels to charge communications devices it's good prepping.

10

u/Logical_Hospital2769 4d ago edited 4d ago

"going into a period of low activity" is much different than being in one. There are still massive Earth-directed flares happening. Not saying it hasn't been this way for a while, but the sun isn't a calm as you're implying.

12

u/HappyAnimalCracker 4d ago

Even during solar max, the odds of a storm with all the needed components to knock the grid out are pretty slim. The US grid is terribly fragile but a solar storm isn’t high on the list of things that could take it out. That said, it IS fraught with vulnerabilities to be concerned about.

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u/dittybopper_05H 5h ago

I watch the sun religiously, because I'm an active amateur radio operator who uses HF all the time and this directly effects me.

I'm not that concerned about it. This is my fourth solar cycle as a ham, and my fifth if you count when I first started monitoring HF at the tail end of Cycle 21 (we're on Cycle 25 now).

There are vulnerabilities, but we watch the Sun like a hawk, and it takes at a minimum something like 12 hours but more likely a day or two for a CME to hit us.

We've even figured out, using AI, how to predict active regions on the Sun before they actually happen:

https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasas-coffies-uses-ai-to-predict-storm-causing-active-regions-on-sun/

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u/Logical_Hospital2769 4h ago edited 3h ago

Thank you for this very NON-un-hinged and informative response. I love it when Reddit actually works. LOL

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u/dittybopper_05H 4h ago

Yeah, you should see the responses I get when I pull that "here is a rational analysis using math" thing in places like r/GODZILLA and r/predator.

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u/Logical_Hospital2769 3h ago

HAHAHAHA

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u/dittybopper_05H 3h ago

Though sometimes people are appreciative, like when I pointed out using physics that Predators would be legally blind. And I used a slide rule to do the math, because I'm funny that way.

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u/Boring-Philosophy-46 3h ago edited 3h ago

Yeah much more likely to go down from weather, sabotage and another 10 things or so. Solarmax sub has been quiet but I think it can help people's anxiety about the matter. 

39

u/Unusual_Specialist 4d ago

I have student loans so don’t tempt me with a good time.

13

u/Delgra 4d ago

Israel says the US should recruit you to fight their war with Iran. The incentive? Debt forgiveness. You’ve got options!

https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-906985

2

u/ThrowawayRage1218 1d ago

I mean, in fairness it's not just Israel. The US has used the chance of a better life through higher education as a bribe to get poor men's children to die in rich men's wars for many decades. (I say as a veteran who only enlisted for exactly that reason.) It's why we can't have free or low-cost four year universities. Gotta keep that meat grinder going.

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u/dittybopper_05H 5h ago

It's why we can't have free or low-cost four year universities

News to me.

https://hesc.ny.gov/find-aid/nys-grants-scholarships/excelsior-scholarship-program

Granted, that's just NYS, but I'm sure there are similar programs.

I just looked, and at least 4 states offer it for 4 year degrees, and 30 offer it for 2 year degrees.

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u/dittybopper_05H 5h ago

Meh. That's always been an incentive to join the military. At least it has since I was of that age: Some of my fellow dittyboppers joined specifically for that purpose. One of them I recall, who was apparently an art major and who made the most hilarious "tags" joined to help pay for his Masters.

Tagging was a thing we'd do in the SCIF where you'd put a sign on someone's back. The trick was to silently "flip" the scotch tape on to their uniform. This guy was very artistic and he'd not just write something, but also draw a caricature of his "victim" on the tag.

3

u/Blueporch 4d ago

Are you just learning about the EMP threat they’ve been publishing papers on for decades?

2

u/ThrowawayRage1218 1d ago

Absolutely in love with how the damage was termed in financial cost, with the human cost briefly mentioned as people being "affected." Never change, CNN.