Sounds like something you’d read in a sci-fi novel, right? But believe it or not, space hurricanes are a reality. And if you think they come with the typical thunder and lightning seen in earthly hurricanes, think again. These celestial phenomena are silent, manifesting as swirling plumes of charged plasma high up in the atmosphere, shining with a strange, aurora-like glow.
A fresh study released this month in Space Weather confirms these peculiar storms – gigantic, spiral structures – that occur in our planetary atmosphere. The first instance was picked up by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) back on August 20, 2014. This phenomenon closely resembled a typical hurricane with its spiral arms and calm, glowing center.
Interestingly, this space storm didn’t occur after a solar flare or any significant disturbances.
According to lead author Sheng Lu from Shandong University in China, “The space hurricane formed during very quiet conditions.” This directly contradicts previous theories suggesting that high solar activity was a must for such storms to form.
The DMSP F17 satellite actually navigated right through the storm’s eye, followed by ESA’s SWARM B satellite which skimmed its edge. Together, their findings painted a picture of a real electrodynamic storm, exhibiting charged particles zooming around at speeds over 2,237 mph, channeling energy back into the upper atmosphere.
Though lacking a solar trigger, this storm still produced noticeable effects. GPS signals passing through its perimeter experienced pronounced phase scintillations—basically flickering that can mess up navigation. Meanwhile, ground-based magnetometers in Greenland observed magnetic fluctuations reaching up to 400 nonteslas, something on par with a low-level (G1-class) geomagnetic storm.
Even more interesting is that the storm appeared while the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) was tilted northward, a setting typically viewed as quiet. This revelation puts a new spin on standard forecasting models that primarily focus on southward-tilting IMF as the main storm catalyst.
It seems space hurricanes are stealthy—avoiding classic warnings yet still having the potential to disrupt Earth’s magnetic field.
