LancasterResearchers found a mistyped date hid an 1848 magnetic storm.
A longer storm record sharpens estimates of how often grid-crippling space weather strikes.
An anonymous 1871 Nature report dated the first known disturbance to 1841, but the rail line it described didn’t open until 1846.
The findings extend the observed storm record, feeding models that estimate the risk of a Carrington-scale event today.
How each outlet framed it
- Ars Technica
- emphasizes Exeter railway disruption as the moment emerging electrical tech first encountered space weather
Sources: Ars Technica