Solar Fury Unleashed: USA Plunged into Years-Long Blackout Hell

The Carrington Event, named after British astronomer Richard Carrington who observed it, was the most powerful geomagnetic storm, CME’s (Similar to a Solar storm) in recorded history.

What is a CME? Keep Reading below.

It peaked on September 1-2, 1859, during solar cycle 10, triggered by a massive solar flare and coronal mass ejection from the Sun. The storm’s effects were felt globally, with intense auroral displays visible as far south as the Caribbean and Central America, including parts of the United States like Florida and the Rocky Mountains. In the U.S., people reported being able to read newspapers by the aurora’s light at night, and gold miners awoke thinking it was dawn.

While widespread electricity grids did not exist in 1859, the event disrupted the nascent electrical infrastructure of the time, particularly telegraph systems across North America and Europe.

Historically, the Carrington Event caused significant disruptions to telegraph networks in the United States and beyond, effectively “shutting down” the primary means of long-distance communication. Telegraph operators in cities like Boston and New York reported sparks flying from equipment, electric shocks, and even fires ignited by induced currents in the wires. Some systems continued to operate without batteries due to the geomagnetic currents providing power, but many lines failed completely, halting messages for hours. The storm’s reach extended from the East Coast to the Midwest and as far west as the Rockies, demonstrating its nationwide impact on U.S. infrastructure.

What is a CME?

A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is a massive burst of solar plasma—billions of tons of charged particles (mostly protons and electrons)—along with embedded magnetic fields that gets violently expelled from the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona.These enormous clouds of material are often associated with powerful solar flares, though they can occur independently.

CMEs form when the Sun’s twisted magnetic field lines become stressed and suddenly realign through a process called magnetic reconnection, releasing stored energy and launching the plasma outward at speeds ranging from hundreds to over a thousand kilometers per second (up to millions of miles per hour in extreme cases). When a CME is Earth-directed, it can take 1–5 days to reach our planet (faster ones arrive quicker, like the record 17-hour travel time during the Carrington Event). Upon arrival, it interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere, potentially triggering geomagnetic storms that produce spectacular auroras but also induce powerful currents in power grids, disrupt satellites, and affect communications.

The 1859 Carrington Geomagnetic Storm (CME)

The 1859 Carrington geomagnetic storm (CME) highlighted the vulnerability of wired electrical systems to space weather, foreshadowing potential risks for modern power grids.

The mechanism behind the shutdown involved a solar coronal mass ejection (CME) that traveled from the Sun to Earth in about 17.6 hours, compressing Earth’s magnetosphere and inducing powerful geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) on the planet’s surface. These quasi-DC currents flowed through conductive structures like telegraph lines, overwhelming them and causing overloads. The storm’s intensity, estimated at a disturbance storm time index (Dst) of -800 to -1750 nT, generated electric fields up to 20 V/km in some areas, far exceeding normal levels and leading to the observed failures.

In the U.S., the effects were most pronounced along major telegraph routes, which spanned from the Northeast to the South and West, illustrating how geographic location and infrastructure layout amplified the impact.

If a Carrington-level solar storm occurred today, it could devastate the U.S. power grid, causing widespread blackouts primarily in the Midwest and East Coast regions, including densely populated areas from Washington, D.C., to New York City. GICs would saturate high-voltage transformers, potentially damaging hundreds and leading to voltage collapses, with outages lasting from weeks to years due to the long lead times for replacements. The economic cost could reach $0.6-2.6 trillion, affecting 20-40 million people, with higher risks in areas of low ground conductivity like the Atlantic corridor.

Unlike 1859, today’s interconnected grid and reliance on electricity would amplify the shutdown, disrupting communications, satellites, and critical services nationwide.

The Carrington Event Solar Storm

Real Story: Imagine being a telegraph operator in September 1859, using advanced technology to send messages over vast distances.

Suddenly, stunning auroras illuminate the skies worldwide, followed by chaos as sparks fly from equipment, shocking operators and igniting papers.

Remarkably, some lines operated without batteries, powered by massive currents from the most powerful geomagnetic storm on record.

Triggered by a solar flare observed by Richard Carrington, this coronal mass ejection (CME) slammed into Earth’s magnetic field, highlighting vulnerabilities even in that era’s simpler tech. Today, our far more advanced and electricity-dependent society faces even greater risks from such events.

Current Solar Threats in 2026 & Recent Activity

The sun follows an 11-year cycle, with this year marking its peak.

Recently, massive sunspot AR4366 erupted with an X8-class solar flare—the strongest in Solar Cycle 25—along with numerous other flares, causing radio blackouts.

A potential Earth-directed CME could induce geomagnetically induced currents (GICs), electrifying the planet’s surface and threatening high-voltage lines.

Unlike the telegraph era, modern grids are highly susceptible, with a Carrington-level storm potentially melting transformers and causing blackouts lasting months or years, leading to collapsed supply chains, failed water systems, and massive economic damage estimated at $600 billion to $2.6 trillion in the U.S. alone.

Grid Vulnerabilities and Existential Risks

America’s electric grid remains perilously exposed to geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) and electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), as detailed in reports like the 2023 Texas Defense study. Severe events could irreparably damage extra-high-voltage transformers, which are mostly imported from abroad with long lead times, exacerbating outages. Outdated vulnerability assessments from calmer solar periods underestimate threats, ignoring today’s interconnected, high-voltage systems and the more active sun in Cycle 25. Utilities and regulators have been slow to act, reluctant to incur costs despite the trillions at stake.

Proven Solutions and Urgent Calls for Action

Fortunately, affordable neutral blocking devices with capacitors can protect transformers by blocking harmful quasi-DC currents from solar storms or EMPs, while allowing normal AC power flow. Installing these on 6,000 key transformers nationwide would cost about $4 billion—a small price compared to potential losses—and also reduce ongoing efficiency drains. With sunspot AR4366 still active, Congress, states, and utilities must mandate or incentivize these protections, update standards to reflect real risks, and prioritize resilience to avert a return to pre-industrial conditions.

Option #2: China or Russia Wipes Out Americas Electric Grid With An EMP

This would have the same result, only man made.

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon, typically generated by detonating a nuclear warhead high in the atmosphere—around 30 to 400 kilometers above the Earth’s surface—can unleash a devastating cascade of energy capable of crippling the U.S. power grid.

This high-altitude nuclear EMP (HEMP) exploits the Compton effect, where gamma rays from the explosion interact with air molecules, producing a surge of electrons that race toward the ground at near-light speed. Upon reaching the surface, this pulse induces massive voltage spikes in conductive materials like power lines, transformers, and electrical systems, effectively turning the grid’s infrastructure into antennas that amplify the disruption. A single such detonation over central America could affect a radius of thousands of kilometers, overwhelming protective relays and causing widespread blackouts, with potential damage to critical components like high-voltage transformers that are difficult and time-consuming to replace.

In a worst-case scenario involving multiple coordinated detonations across the eastern, central, and western U.S., the entire national grid could collapse within seconds, leading to prolonged outages lasting months or even years due to the interconnected nature of the system and the lack of sufficient hardening against such threats.

The aftermath of an EMP-induced grid wipeout would cascade into societal chaos, as the loss of electricity disrupts essential services including water supply, communications, transportation, and healthcare, potentially leading to massive economic losses and high mortality rates if recovery is delayed. Studies indicate that the EMP’s three phases—E1 (fast pulse damaging electronics), E2 (similar to lightning but widespread), and E3 (slow pulse mimicking geomagnetic storms)—could saturate transformers, trigger relay failures in about 5% of transmission lines, and cause voltage imbalances that propagate failures across regions encompassing multiple states.

Without power, backup generators might fail due to fuel shortages or electronic damage, exacerbating the crisis and leaving millions without access to life-sustaining infrastructure. While non-nuclear EMP devices exist for localized effects, the scale of a nuclear HEMP poses the greatest risk to America’s unhardened grid, highlighting vulnerabilities that could be exploited by adversaries in geopolitical conflicts.