1989 Quebec experienced a blackout for several hours due to a strong geomagnetic storm. Some dubbed the incident "the day the sun brought darkness."
The Quebec Blackout 1989
The whole Canadian province of Quebec went offline on March 13, 1989. Every year, there are hundreds of blackouts in various parts of North America. However, the Quebec Blackout was unique because a solar storm was to blame, NASA reported.
Astronomers saw a massive explosion in the sun on Friday, March 10, 1989. The sun's chaotic magnetic forces expelled a billion-ton cloud of gas in minutes. It resembled the simultaneous explosion of thousands of nuclear weapons.
At a million miles per hour speed, the storm cloud shot straight out of the sun and toward Earth. Short-wave radio broadcasts from Radio Free Europe into Russia were jammed due to the solar flare that accompanied the outburst.
The Kremlin was suspected of having blocked the transmissions. However, it was just the sun acting up!
The massive solar plasma cloud, a gas of electrically charged particles, ultimately impacted the Earth's magnetic field on Monday, March 12. As far south as Florida and Cuba, dazzling "northern lights" were produced by the ferocity of this "geomagnetic storm."
An extremely severe magnetic disturbance was observed. It caused electrical currents to run through much of North America's subsurface. At approximately 2:44 a.m. on March 13, the winds discovered a lapse in Quebec's electrical system. The whole Quebec power grid lost electricity in less than 2 minutes.
Millions of people were suddenly trapped in dark office buildings, underground pedestrian tunnels, and stuck elevators throughout the 12-hour blackout that followed.
Most folks had cold homes for breakfast when they awoke. The Montreal Metro remained closed throughout the morning rush hour, Dorval Airport was shut down, and schools and businesses were closed due to the blackout.
Quebec Blackout 1989 Highlights Vulnerability of Power Grids to Space Weather
The Quebec blackout highlighted a significant issue - how vulnerable our power grid is to space weather. According to Dr. David Boteler, head of the Space Weather Group at Natural Resources Canada, the incident was "the biggest geomagnetic storm of the Space Age." It also reportedly became the "archetypal disturbance" in understanding how solar activity can result in blackouts.
Quebec is particularly at risk. The province is situated on an electrically inefficient Precambrian igneous rock. Storm currents discovered a more desirable path via the high-voltage transmission lines of Hydro-Québec when the CME of March 13th arrived. Transformers overheated, circuit breakers tripped, and strange frequencies (harmonics) started to flow through the lines, per Space Weather Archive.
By no means was the Quebec Blackout a local occurrence. Some of the electrical companies in the United States had to deal with their cliffhanger issues, per NASA. When the electrical grid in Quebec collapsed, 150 megawatts were lost by New York Electric. Around the same time, the New England Power Pool lost 1,410 megawatts. While other electrical power reserves were brought online, service to 96 utilities in New England was suspended.
Fortunately, the United States had enough power available at the time-but barely. Within minutes of the storm's beginning on March 13, there were over 200 power grid issues across the country, from coast to coast. Thankfully, none of these led to a blackout.
However, the incident only showed how our power grid could be affected by space weather.
Quebec decided to take note of the experience. According to Louis Gibson, an engineer for Hydro Quebec, the solar storm event was the biggest effect on an electricity utility. Therefore, it served as a wake-up call, and they had to treat the situation seriously.
To limit blackouts and avoid a repeat of the tragedy, Quebec spent $2 billion over six years in the wake of it. According to Canadian History Ehx, Quebec improved its system so that the province would not lose power if a similar storm occurred again.
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