"Power systems: Possible widespread voltage control problems and some protective systems will mistakenly trip out key assets from the grid.
Spacecraft operations: May experience surface charging and tracking problems, corrections may be needed for orientation problems.
Other systems: Induced pipeline currents affect preventive measures, HF radio propagation sporadic, satellite navigation degraded for hours, low-frequency radio navigation disrupted, and aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California (typically 45° geomagnetic lat.)."
Apparently there are 100 of these per 11-year solar cycle.
That last link is extremely interesting. Just spent some minutes watching the videos of previous record setting flares.
The flares oriented towards Earth are very obvious due to the amount of static after flare ejection. We all exist in a narrow band of of environmental conditions, spooky thinking about how much energy is occasionally hurled towards us. Just a slight lick from Sol and we could be done for.
It takes huge amounts of deliberately applied energy to change their orbit. This is about the influence of the radiation on the sensors and systems which help to control the orientation of the satellites. In particular, magnetorquers use the magnetic field of the earth to (very slowly) dump excess angular momentum from the reaction wheels and control moment gyros.
Solar storms can also add a weak torque onto the satellite, depending on the orientation and shape of its body and solar panels. Again, the satellite has an attitude control system to handle such things, but it will still suffer the impulse response from the transient.
How far back does "recorded history" go for these sorts of detailed space weather measurements? The linked #8 ranking seems to be based on 20 years of data
I think they go back to the early telegraph based off of observations of static on the wire and other related problems (a telegraph was basically a giant inductor).
"Power systems: Possible widespread voltage control problems and some protective systems will mistakenly trip out key assets from the grid.
Spacecraft operations: May experience surface charging and tracking problems, corrections may be needed for orientation problems.
Other systems: Induced pipeline currents affect preventive measures, HF radio propagation sporadic, satellite navigation degraded for hours, low-frequency radio navigation disrupted, and aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California (typically 45° geomagnetic lat.)."
Apparently there are 100 of these per 11-year solar cycle.