Compass needles swerve Solar Storm

[Mike(Mont)]

I've always wondered about this. Figured an expensive compass could detect solar magnetic interference. I read that a solar storm caused compass needles to swerve yesterday early. I know I had no response yesterday until nearly noon (MST). Then things were very good.

I built a device one time that uses a laser. You glue a small mirror to a magnet and hang this by a thread inside a closed jar. Then you bounce the laser off the mirror. Any small deviations will show.