Ion storms are natural subspace disturbances. There is nothing you can do to force ion storms to appear or disappear. They move through space at random, and affect ships. The number of ion storms can be configured using IonStormActivity, set that to zero if you do not want to use ion storms.
Ion storms are circles, defined by position and radius. They move through space, with a speed and course that changes over time.
Storms have a voltage measured in MeV, which defines their strength. According to that voltage, storms are grouped into classes:
| 1 .. 49 MeV | Class 1 - Harmless |
| 50 .. 99 MeV | Class 2 - Moderate |
| 100 .. 149 MeV | Class 3 - Strong |
| 150 .. 199 MeV | Class 4 - Dangerous |
| 200 MeV and more | Class 5 - Very Dangerous |
With PHost, all players see all ion storms. Every turn, you receive messages reporting the speed and course the storm took this turn.
Ion storms can be growing or weakening. During the growth phase, they shrink in size, but gain strength. During the weakening phase, they get larger but lose strength. For compatibility with HOST, growing storms always have odd voltages, weakening ones always have even voltages.
