Solar flare

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With a busy sunspot cycle getting under way, the people who keep you posted on space "weather" have decided to make their reports sound more like the outlooks, watches and warnings used for weather on Earth.

"We'll be watching the violent solar storms that occur in outer space, so we decided that it made sense to fit our alerts for the public and others affected by space weather into the (National Weather Service) framework," Ernie Hildner, director of the Space Environment Center, said in a statement.

The center is a division of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which also oversees the Weather Service.

It may not be as visible as a tornado or blizzard or hurricane, but our increasingly technological environment can be disrupted by space weather -- the electromagnetic storms that swirl through space from the sun.

These disturbances can damage communications and electrical generation and affect satellites. They increase and decrease in cycles, and are building up to an expected peak in the second half of 2000.

"When these space storms hit, there's a chance for satellites to be affected, cell phones and computers to be knocked out and electrical power blackouts," said space forecaster Gary Heckman. Such a storm in 1989 caused an electrical blackout in Canada's Quebec province.

In addition, Heckman added, "we'll definitely see more instances of aurora borealis, or northern lights, possibly as far south as the Gulf of Mexico."

The reports will be sent out by the Weather Service on its "Weather Wire," provided to broadcasters, private forecasters and others across the United States.

There will be space weather watches indicating severe space disturbances are expected, warnings that events are imminent, reports on current conditions and outlooks describing the general expectations for future conditions.

"Compared with Earth weather forecasting, space weather forecasting is still in its infancy," Hildner said, but it is improving with the development of better technology and satellites to measure conditions.

Cycles of increased sunspot activity occur about every 11 years. As the number of sunspots increases, so does the solar storm activity, which can sometimes leave the Earth's magnetic field shaking as though a giant hurricane were approaching.

Monday's space weather outlook called for low solar activity with some continued X-rays from the sun, with the Earth's magnetic field expected to be quiet to unsettled for the next three days.