When will another superstorm hit?

Answer 1

Depends what you mean by Superstorm.

It's a term often reserved for use in the context of a Global Superstorm - the type of strom depicted in the film The Day After Tomorrow. If htta's what you're referring to then we haven't had one yet.

There have been several serious storms that sometimes get referred to as a Superstorm or 'the storm of the century'. The Eastern US had one in 1993, the UK had one in 1987. Given the right combination of conditions these storms will happen again as they have throughout history. It seems likely that the frequency of such storms will increase.

There's another type of Superstorm I've come across which is the Solar Superstorm or Space Storm. One such event occured about 150 years ago when unprecedented activity on the surface of the sun caused huge heat and magnetic variations. The magnetism caused havoc with electrical equipment leading to many items shorting out. There were many fires and spectacular displays of aurora and corona borealis (northern and southern lights).

The sun is a place of incredible activity and the Superstorm was the result of several random events occuring at the same time. Such an event could happen again and there would be little, if any, warning. In today's world where so much is based on electricity the effects would be catastrophic.

As for when it will happen - it's a random event so there's no predicting it. Could be today, tomorrow, maybe not for hundreds or thousands of years.