Talk:Northeast blackout of 2003/Archive 1
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Is there supposed to be some connection between power outages in New York and Ottawa? They're in different countries, even...
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I'm skeptical about whether this article is needed. Every city gets power outages from time to time. They aren't important events. Evercat 20:33, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- Power distribution extends beyond national borders. NY and Ottowa going down at once implies a major grid outage. This might be article-worthy -- the power distribution grid is not meant to fail like this. -- The Anome 20:40, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
OK. Sorry, had the wrong impression of this article. You're probably right. Evercat 20:41, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- Yeah, looks like you were in the dark about this. Hope it ain't serious --Uncle Ed 20:54, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
In the dark. :-) How appropriate. Evercat 20:55, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
7 Move to 2003 Northeast American electricity blackout? I say American because it appears that areas of Canada are concerned as well.—Eloquence
I'd support a move to something better than "New York", though "Northeast American" is still seems Amero-centric. (It's south for the Canadians). "Eastern US/Canada"? Also, can someone mention Toronto. I'm on dial-up, so I get conflicts. (source: NBC, NPR) General Wesc
How about 2003 North American blackout? - Montréalais 22:07, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
One theory is that the blackout may be related to current sunspot conditions.
- Eh? That seems a bit bizarre. Evercat 21:29, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Not really. Strange but true; Sunspots --> solar flares --> grid outages. See http://sunspotcycle.com/ -- and sunspot 431 is looking big and vicious... -- The Anome 21:41, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
See http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/eiskappenman.html for a reference on this... (NB I'm not saying this outage is caused by a geomagnetic storm, just that this is a theory...) -- The Anome 21:46, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- Hmm, do they not normally give warnings about this stuff? I'm sure there's such a thing as solar weather forecasting... were there any warnings? Anyway, who's theory is this? (that it's the cause of this particular event) Evercat 21:48, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- There was a major blackout due to solar flares in Quebec a few years ago. They seem to have been abandoned as a possible cause of this blackout, though. Trontonian
I have written an article about power outages for the German wikipedia: de:Stromausfall. I can't find a similar article on this wikipedia, can you please add interwiki links in case you have one? @Eloquence: can you please add it to the German main page? Thanks --Head 22:04, Aug 14, 2003 (UTC)
It says Boston is affected. I am in Minneapolis, where there are no signs of a blackout, and I am logged in to a machine in [MIT]'s math department, and have no trouble viewing MIT's home page or the MIT math department's home page. But when I try to look at New York University's home page or the NYU libraries home page I get an error message saying I cannot do it. Is this MIT's cogeneration facilities at work? OK, now I'm trying Boston University's home page and it's functioning normally. Michael Hardy 22:29, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- My Mom in Cambridge (near Harvard Square) wasn't even aware of the blackout until I telephoned her and she turned on her TV. --Ed Poor
- There may be some confusion as to the exact extent of the blackout; initial reports suggested the power was out where I live, which it wasn't. - Montréalais 22:34, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
...and a web site in Cleveland I'm trying seems not to be working, but several web sites in Toledo that I've tried are functioning normallly. The report that Toledo is affected may be exaggerated. Toledo is about 50 or 60 miles southwest of Detroit. The University of Michigan is maybe 40 miles west of Detroit, and its web site seems to be functioning normally. Michael Hardy 22:42, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- That's not really an effective way of detecting power loss. A) not all web sites are hosted on-site. B) they may have backup power for telecommunications. C) power outages may not be complete; parts of a city may be without power while other parts are unaffected. --Brion 23:06, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- Ann Arbor did blackout, as did most of Toledo, though interestingly, some of the suburbs did not. My parents' home in Sylvania Township, on the northwest edge of Toledo, only lost power for a brief moment. -- Arteitle 00:57, 16 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I've deleted Boston from this articles list of places affected. Michael Hardy 23:01, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Here's a possible useful link: http://www.niagaramohawk.com/
The cable tv/internet access was down in my area. One would think that they would have some type of backup.
24.51.80.227 23:04, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Most of the news articles, along with this article, mention "prisons are also without power". Why does that matter?
It doesn't matter. Vancouverguy 23:08, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)
- Beg to differ. Prisons without power = (possibility of) downed security systems, escaped prisoners, or at least riots. However, all the prisons I've heard of have generators. - Montréalais 23:10, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)