Daily Gleaner, March 25, 1899
Aurora Borealis. Though the following note refers to an occurrence in January it is interesting enough to reprint over the current weather report :— "Windsor Pen (Trelawny). The 'Northern Lights' were distinctly visible on the evening of the 26th January. They extended from below the horizon in a N.W. by W. direction to the Zenith. The 'st[r]eamers' were not observed to be accompanied by the usual wavy appearance. It is a most unusual event for tho aurora borealis to be observed so far South as Jamaica, although tho books state that it has occasionally been seen Souih of Cuba. From the Introduction to Vulumo II of these Weather Reports it would appear that this is only the second time it has been recorded as having been seen in Jamaica. It is there stated that the aurora borealis was seen one night in 1860. The date was actually in 1859, on the occasion of the greatest electromagnetic storm recorded in modern times; on that occasion strange things happened to the telegraph wires, the most advanced technology of the day. Similar effects were felt in the 1921 storm, but experts warn that a similar solar storm in our own times could be disastrous to our electronics-dependent society. It is therefore important to have advance warning of solar flares which may occur at the height of the present sunspot cycle, which is expected in 2012, or soon after. |