NASA Report: 
Solar Storm Sheared Earth's Atmosphere at the Arctic on Sept 24, 1998
  
Creating an ionospheric fountain of outflowing oxygen and hydrogen ions. A "polar plasma fountain" and a massive aurora borealis display.

 

 

Aurora as seen by Polar UVI Instrument - After The Ultraviolet Imager on NASA's Polar spacecraft captured this view of the aurora as seen from space on September 24-25, 1998. Auroras are typically seen from the ground only at night, but they in fact spread around the day and night side of Earth's north and south poles. Viewing the auroral oval in ultraviolet light allowed researchers to confirm intense activity on the day side of Earth, where the plasma from the ionosphere was squeezed out into space. 

CREDIT: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

 

   

NASA: Solar Wind Blew away Earth's atmosphere

  
NASA Article:

Solar wind blows some of Earth's atmosphere into space
   

NASA Article:

Jan. 7, 1999: Just three months after a solar storm blew away part of the Earth's upper atmosphere, a team of U.S. scientists plans a CAPER to probe a fountain of ions that is always blowing into space
 

NASA News Release:

Solar wind squeezes some of Earth's atmosphere into space