Tag Archive | Great Québec Blackout

Spaceweather 35th Anniversary: The Great Québec Blackout, March 13, 1989

Sunspot 5395, source of the March 13, 1989 solar storm

They call it “the day the sun brought darkness.”

The Great Québec Blackout

MARCH 12, 2021 / DR.TONY PHILLIPS (Source: spaceweatherarchive.com)

March 13, 2021: They call it “the day the sun brought darkness.” On March 13, 1989, a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth’s magnetic field. Ninety seconds later, the Hydro-Québec power grid failed. During the 9 hour blackout that followed, millions of Quebecois found themselves with no light or heat, wondering what was going on?

“It was the biggest geomagnetic storm of the Space Age,” says Dr. David Boteler, head of the Space Weather Group at Natural Resources Canada. “March 1989 has become the archetypal disturbance for understanding how solar activity can cause blackouts.”

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