The Space Weather Prediction Center is now saying the most likely scenario is just a glancing blow (G1 minor levels) from the solar storm around 8 a.m on June 9 lasting 24 hours. However, it does still indicate a small (25-30%) chance of a major-severe geomagnetic storm. Note: the state of the art is such that we’ll not know for sure until just 10-12 minutes whether the event will definitely occur - about comparable to the warning time for tornadoes, but the effects if any could be felt worldwide from mid-to-high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.
More here and awesome video:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/cap ... ather-gang
An even awesomer video:
http://www.thesuntoday.org/current-obse ... socks-off/
Just to note, the mid to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere includes the entire United States, the most populated parts of Canada, all of the UK, and all of Europe. If a severe geo-magnetic storm does develop as a result of the sun's solar flare, there could be widespread power outages (although it seems pretty unlikely). Still, I'll be taking the time to fully backup all of YWS onto a thumb drive just in case.
The Middle East is safe.