[...] geomagnetic storms can occur at any point in the solar cycle, and not all solar flares or coronal mass ejections will trigger a storm. Most of them, after all, will be pointed away from Earth. Of the earthbound ones, the damage they do depends on, among other things, the polarity of the magnetic field carried by the solar wind. If the polarity is the same as that of Earth's magnetic field, most of the particles will be deflected harmlessly into space.

umm..does anyone know what the polarity is on this one??