A large-scale power outage is being reported: "Boil order lifted citywide after Chain of Rocks Water Treatment Plant power outage". Widespread outages can be caused by severe weather, grid failures, or – relevant to what this site tracks – a strong geomagnetic storm inducing damaging currents in transformers.
What this means for you
Most space weather passes without anyone noticing – but events like this are exactly why we watch the data. If conditions escalate, the first things affected are GPS accuracy, shortwave radio and, in severe cases, power grids. Now is a good moment to make sure your devices are charged and you know where your backup light sources are.
We track this in real time on our Space Weather Command Center – live storm levels, aurora maps and official NOAA alerts, explained in plain English.
Detected automatically from NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center data, August 18, 2026 at 15:45 UTC.
Source: St. Louis American
Sky & Solar Conditions at the Time
Moon: First Quarter (36% illuminated), in Scorpio.
Notable planetary angles: Venus sextile Jupiter (61°), Moon square Jupiter (89°), Mercury trine Saturn (122°), Venus opposite Saturn (177°).
Concurrent space weather: planetary Kp index 2.3; strongest recent solar flare: nothing notable.
This is a factual snapshot, not a claim of cause and effect – researchers are divided on whether lunar, planetary or solar factors influence seismic or weather activity. It’s included so readers can track the pattern for themselves over time.
