March 1989 Storm

Event

Date: March 13, 1989 (storm span: March 12–15).

Intensity: Kp = 9, Dst ≈ −589 nT (superstorm).

Impact: Québec blackout, aurorae visible to Texas.

Coastal tide gauges should show small but coherent departures from harmonic baselines (amplitude 1–5 cm).

Phase shifts should align with storm onset and recovery.

Deviations should correlate with geomagnetic indices (Dst plunge, Kp spikes).

Conventional gravity model predicts no effect.

Tide gauge records: NOAA CO-OPS (U.S.), UHSLC (global), GESLA (archival).

Geomagnetic indices: Kp (GFZ Potsdam/NOAA SWPC), Dst (WDC Kyoto).

1. Select stations: Honolulu (Pacific), Newlyn (UK), San Francisco (U.S.), Reykjavik (Iceland).

2. Build baselines: harmonic tide predictions for March 1989 at each site.

3. Compute residuals: subtract harmonic baseline from observed gauge data; focus on March 12–15.

4. Correlate with indices: overlay residuals with Kp and Dst time series; expect modulation aligned with storm.

5. Statistical test: compare storm-time residuals with quiet-time control (March 5^th–10^th).

Residuals will show systematic modulation during the storm, absent in quiet days.

Coherence across multiple stations confirms global Ӕ signature.

If residuals show no storm-time increase in variance or correlation with indices, the Ӕ tide hypothesis fails this test.

Produced by The Lilborn Equation Team:

Michael Lilborn-Williams

Daniel Thomas Rouse

Thomas Jackson Barnard

Audrey Williams