Fire Starts on the Hercules 265 Drilling Rig After Spike in Solar Wind Density

Written by David (mrloferlofer)

After the second day of tracking density spikes in the Solar Wind at just after 03:30 UTC, I noticed that this morning's spike in proton density correlates with the 10:45 PM CDT start of the fire on the Hercules 265 drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday night.

This article will explore the possible connection between fire on the Hercules 265 drilling rig and our weak solar wind, magnetic field due to low solar activity and a recent uptick in galactic cosmic ray activity.

Keep in mind that the location of this incident was in the CDT Time Zone which is -5 Hours UTC. So this 03:30 UTC spike in solar wind density occurred at 10:30 CDT near the Hercules 265 drilling rig. Here is a link to the iFrame (below), on Space Weather and the GMF in offshore drilling:

---

Images from Left to Right:

ACE Solar Wind shows the density (orange) spiking up to 40-50 protons/cm3 just after 3:30 UTC the morning of July 24th, 2013 which was 10:30 PM local time on Hercules 265.

Sonoma Gamma Ray Burst Monitor shows the most recent burst occurring at 08:19 UTC on July 22nd from the Constellation Ophiuchus.

ACE Solar Wind (again) shows the higher of the two density spikes at 03:30 UTC on the morning of July 23rd; this density spike was up over 100 protons/cm3 and occurred a day after the GRB.

Read More