M3.3 Solar Flare From Sunspot 1718 - April 12, 2013

   Today we had a M3.3 solar flare from sunspot region 1718 peaking at 20:38 UTC
Today's M3.3 flare comes on the heels of the M6.5 solar flare that occurred yesterday (April 11th) around sunspot region 1719 peaking at 07:16 UTC.

 

   At this time the M3 flare from today does not appear to have produced a CME. We will however be monitoring the solar images to see if we see any signs of this changing. The M6 flare from yesterday did however produce a Earth directed CME that is due to arrive sometime in the early hours of Saturday April 13, 2013 when a moderate G2 geomagnetic storm is forecasted to occurred.

Event Issue Date: 2013-04-11 11:41:59.0 GMT
CME Arrival Time: 2013-04-13 05:57:21.0 GMT
Arival Time Confidence Level: ± 6 hours
Disturbance Duration: 5 hours
Disturbance Duration Confidence Level: ± 8 hours
Magnetopause Standoff Distance: 4.8 Re

CME Impact! March 17, 2013

 
   The full halo CME from Friday March 15th has arrived  at Earth early Sunday morning at around 05:30 UTC . The Solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field show a shock signature from this CME now arriving.
At the time the CME came in contact with Earths magnetosphere a geomagnetic disturbance commenced with the Bz fluctuating between minus 20 and plus 15 nanoTeslas.
The Solar wind speed jumped to around 700 km/s and the interplanetary magnetic field Bz component is turbulent around -15 nT.
This brought on a moderate Geomagnetic storm.

   At this time geomagnetic storm level has reached storm levels of G2 (K=6). These conditions are expected to persist well into the early morning hours of tomorrow, Monday March 18.

Aurora may be seen as low as Montana, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin to Washington state, as well as other high latitude regions. To know where Auroras can be seen, look for the Aurora ovation model located in the left hand column of this site.


Any and All updates will be added to the bottom of this report in the spacial 'UPDATE' section. Be sure to check back often through today to find out about any change in conditions.

CME Arrival Due Today - Updated Hourly

 

   Today we are awaiting the arrival of a Earth directed CME that was ejected from the solar surface on March 15, 2013. While we wait for this CME to arrive, we thought it would be a good time to update everyone with the info we have on this CME. We have our original report on this CME that you can view HERE.  A geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for the next 24-48 hours when this CME is expected to arrive with G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm expected for the Saturday March 16th and G2 (Moderate) storming expected for Sunday March 17th. (click HERE to view the Geomagnetic Storm Scales) 

Any and All updates will be added to the bottom of this report in the spacial 'UPDATE' section. Be sure to check back often through today to find out about any change in conditions.

CME arrival is due Today:
March 16th @ 17:00 UTC - March 17th @ 03:00 UTC
March 16th @ 1pm EST - 11pm EST
March 16th @ 10am PST - 8pm PST
(all times are +/- 6hr)
*this CME was traveling away from the solar surface at a speed of  900 km/s (2 million mph) when it left the solar surface.

Event Issue Date: 2013-03-15 09:23:51.0 GMT

CME Arrival Time: 2013-03-16 16:59:03.0 GMT
Arival Time Confidence Level: ± 6 hours
Disturbance Duration: 4 hours
Disturbance Duration Confidence Level: ± 8 hours
Magnetopause Standoff Distance: 4.3 Re
Credit: NASA ISWA

LDE M Flare in Progress - CME Watch In Effect!

   Out of nowhere! At this time there is a LDE (long duration event) M flare in progress . This M class solar flare event began today, March 15th just before 06:00 UTC and is currently at a M1.2 reading. The source of this LDE M flare is sunspot 1692 that is located in the very northern center of the solar disk..  Long duration events such as we are seeing right now are commonly associated with CME's. Because of this, we will be watching close for any signs of a CME that may be ejected toward Earth as well as what sunspot this event took place around. 
New Updates added! Click on the report title to view full report & all new updates.

Today's M flare event started taking place at the same time SWPC issued an alert that there is a Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse. This indicated that the CME we were expecting for March 15th has now arrived