Learn About the Intense 1940 Solar Storm Known as the ‘Sunspot Tornado’

In February 2022, a solar storm caused damage to Earth’s infrastructure when some of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites were caught in the drag caused by energized particles in the upper atmosphere and subsequently crashed. However, this event pales in comparison to the devastating solar storm that struck Earth in March 1940. During this powerful storm, metal wires crackled from excessive static electricity, and phone lines and telegraph services were disrupted for a duration of 5 hours. The New York Times referred to it as a ‘Sunspot tornado’, serving as a reminder of the destructive potential of solar storms. Let’s delve into this remarkable event.

According to a SpaceWeather.com report, “On March 24, 1940, a solar storm hit Earth so hard that copper wires in the United States crackled with 800 volts of electricity. A New York Times headline declared that a ‘sunspot tornado’ had arrived, destroying any signal that had to travel through the metal wires. Attached to the report also a newspaper article of the day, which emphasized that shortwave communications, police and press teletypes were also affected during the story.

The terrifying solar storm of 1940

This storm was so extreme that within a few hours it blocked all long-distance communications. It was also reported that more than a million telephones and teletypes were affected by the storm. In fact, the build-up of static charge was so high near the surface that copper and other metal wires began to crackle under its impact.

Such a storm today would damage large satellites, disrupt GPS and cell phone networks, affect power grids and even ground-based electronics.

It begs the question, if this storm was so powerful, why don’t we hear about it as much as the Carrington event or the Halloween solar storm? The answer has to do with history. In 1940, World War II was underway and the United States was about to take action. So it’s no surprise that such a minor inconvenience was not on people’s minds.

And if you think a solar storm like this can’t happen today, you’re wrong. Just this year, we’ve seen two CME clouds that carried enough charge to ignite a similar storm. But luckily neither of them were in the direction of the earth.