NLCs ARE NOT BEHAVING AS EXPECTED

plural noun: noctilucent clouds

1. a high-altitude cloud that is luminous at night, especially in summer in high latitudes.”he estimated the height of the noctilucent clouds he saw at 80 to 100 km”

CME STRIKE SPARKS GEOMAGNETIC STORM: As predicted, a CME struck Earth on June 28th (~1000 UT). The impact sparked a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm, underway now. Aurora alerts: SMS Text

NLCs ARE NOT BEHAVING AS EXPECTED: When northern summer began, the forecast called for few noctilucent clouds (NLCs). Frosted wisps of meteor smoke tend to melt away during years of high solar activity–and solar activity has been very high in 2024. Yet…

“This week’s NLC display not only blew me away, but I would consider it within the top two displays I’ve ever seen in my life,” reports longtime observer Martin McKenna, who took this picture on June 26th from N. Ireland: 

“This was right up there with the jaw dropping displays I observed during 2009 when we had a deep Solar Minimum,” McKenna says.

Other witnesses agreed: “It was easily the best display in years, and I’ve been observing NLCs for 60+ years,” says John C McConnell of Maghaberry, N. Ireland. Kenneth Conlon of County Sligo, Ireland, described it as a “major outbreak, one of the strongest since 2019.”

These glowing reports came only two days after another outbreak of NLCs appeared over Paris, France.

Noctilucent clouds over County Sligo, Ireland, on June 26th. Credit: Kenneth Conlon

What’s going on?

It might be SpaceX. Studies show that water-rich rocket exhaust can boost the abundance of NLCs. So far this year (Jan. 1st – June 27th), 124 rockets have left Earth, mostly launched by SpaceX. That’s 4 times the rate of launches during previous Solar Maxima with 4 times more water being poured into the mesosphere. Perhaps this is enough to overwhelm the water and ice destroying effects of the active sun.

In the past 2 weeks alone there have been 7 launches worldwide. A notable launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket on June 25th immediately preceded the Irish outburst of NLCs on June 26th. Even leading experts aren’t certain these events are linked. One thing’s for sure: More rockets are on the launch pad, so remain alert for electric blue.

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