In Fargo, ND the northern lights not only were visible, but they stretched from the northern horizons, past the center of the sky, into the southern sky. The display lasted hours and were visible from the city.
I've never seen the lights before so it was an experience I'll never forget.
Also, as a note, there seemed to be some kind of "magnetic pole" just south of the center point in the sky (overhead). It was like there were "waves" that were blown from the northern horizon, and the "waves" trickled across the sky and converted into a single distinct point. That point was like a warped magnetic point, not unlike a shadow cast by shining light through the bottom of a clear injection molded plastic ball. It was very cool. I'm curious if that's a common trait of the northern lights?
This could have interesting implications for Field Day (http://www.arrl.org/field-day), pushing people into the higher frequency bands if the event isn't over by then.
If you're interested in keeping up with this kind of stuff on a regular basis (and without the in-your-face advertising as weather.com) check out http://spaceweather.com/
If you're looking for the relevant space weather-related graphs I suggest http://spaceweathernews.com/ (the planetary-K index shows our current geomagnetic storm level)
Since they will be in low earth orbits the radiation effects will be significantly less than compared to geosynchronous satellites. They'll be well within the magnetosphere. As for atmospheric ionization: it won't be a problem at the multiple GHz frequencies of interest. That really only effects stuff well under 1 GHz.
Electricity was crazy in SoCal last night, almost brownout. I wonder if some long distance lines were shut down preemptively to avoid an incident like the Northeast.
I've never seen the lights before so it was an experience I'll never forget.
Also, as a note, there seemed to be some kind of "magnetic pole" just south of the center point in the sky (overhead). It was like there were "waves" that were blown from the northern horizon, and the "waves" trickled across the sky and converted into a single distinct point. That point was like a warped magnetic point, not unlike a shadow cast by shining light through the bottom of a clear injection molded plastic ball. It was very cool. I'm curious if that's a common trait of the northern lights?