Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch Highlights Power, Satellite, and BI Exposure

A fast-moving coronal mass ejection has prompted NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center to issue a G4 severe geomagnetic storm watch, placing renewed focus on how space weather can translate into insured losses. While public attention often centers on the potential for auroras at lower latitudes, the more pressing concern for insurers and claims professionals is infrastructure disruption. Geomagnetic storms can induce currents in long transmission lines, degrade satellite and GPS services, and interfere with radio communications, all of which support modern commerce.

For claims adjusters, the challenge is not a single point of failure but accumulation. Brief power quality disturbances can halt manufacturing lines, stress data center backup systems, disrupt cold chains, and delay logistics without producing obvious physical damage. These scenarios commonly raise questions around utility service interruption exclusions, contingent business interruption triggers, and whether coverage requires demonstrable physical loss or damage.

Satellite and GPS dependence adds another layer of complexity. Even short-lived degradation can affect aviation routing, marine navigation, port operations, financial timing systems, and telecom networks. Claims tied to delay, loss of use, or degraded service often sit in gray areas between property, marine, aviation, cyber, and technology policies, increasing the likelihood of disputes over intent, causation, and occurrence definition.

The timing also matters. With Solar Cycle 25 near its projected peak, elevated geomagnetic activity is expected to continue. This increases the odds that adjusters will see repeat events that generate clusters of small to mid-sized claims across multiple insureds. For the claims community, the takeaway is practical: expect losses that test definitions, exclusions, and sublimits, and be prepared for events where operational disruption, not physical damage, drives the claim.