sun's activity runs on an 11-year cycle

A rare double burst of magnetically charged solar storms will hit Earth on August 2nd, raising concerns that GPS signals, radio communications and power transmissions could be disrupted. INCOMING SOLAR STORM: During the late hours of July 28th, a filament of magnetism erupted on the sun, slingshotting a cloud of plasma (CME) into space. NOAA analysts have computer-modeled the trajectory of this CME, and they say it is likely to strike Earth's magnetic field late on August 1st. This is not a major storm cloud, but it is not alone. A solar wind stream is following closely behind it. The double blow could strongly disturb Earth's polar magnetic field. NOAA forecasters say there is a 70% chance of G1 or G2-class geomagnetic storms on Aug. 2nd.spaceweather.com