hailey winslow in southern california tonight. hailey. thank you. and our coverage of this story continues at the top of the hour with west coast rap with alex savage right here on ktvu. that is followed by ktvu fox two news at 730 with heather holmes. >> earth has just experienced what's called a severe level geomagnetic solar storm, the second highest level of noaa's rating system. ktvu tom vacar explains how it could cause some disruptions to communication systems as solar storms are important as this, and next year will be the peak of activity of the 11 year solar cycle. >> hazards to earthlings can come when the solar shockwaves hit earth's electrically charged layer. astronomical experts bing kwok and andrew fraknoi say that layer protects the planet, the people and the technology from solar and cosmic radiation. >> way back in 1989, there was a major power outage that affected the northeast, and that was due to the effect of a solar storm. >> skylab, america's first space station, was downed by a 1979 solar storm that caused the atmosphere to