Scientists said most of the latest storm should miss the Earth, meaning it will produce minimal effects on our planet.

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The jet stream consists of strong winds about 10 miles above the Earth that control storm paths and mark boundaries between cooler and warmer air.

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In addition, from cell phones to computers, washers and dryers to electronic ignition for cars would be damaged by a massive solar storm that directly hit the Earth.

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We sometimes can see the aftermath of a storm or other major impact on the Earth after the sky clears.

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The last time a "great geomagnetic storm" unleashed such energy on the earth (thereafter known as a Carrington Event for the British scientist who first detected it) was September 1, 1859.

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And this storm, while strong, may seem fiercer because Earth has been lulled by several years of weak solar activity.

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This summer, two of them merged to form a single oval, larger than the earth, making the second-biggest storm in the solar system after the Great Red Spot.

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In August 1998, one of these bursts was so intense that it measurably heated the Earth's outer atmosphere a first for a celestial storm.

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The earth bank aims to protect homes against a one-in-100-year tide and storm surge.

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And farmers and fishermen concede that the only way to get that much rain quickly -- from a tropical storm or hurricane -- would cause more damage than the worst dry spell ever in one the wettest places on Earth.

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