ACTIVE SUN SENDING STORMS TOWARDS EARTH

March 31, 2001 — After a four-month lull, the sun has bounded back with a vengeance, exploding with storms and flares. Friday night communities from Washington state to New Mexico and Arizona were treated to a dazzling display of northern lights, according to NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. (Click image from NASA's SOHO satellite for larger view.)

Space weather forecasters at SEC report that solar activity remains high with the active sunspot region continuing to be large and complex. This active region on the sun produced minor to moderate storming yesterday with a brief severe storm last night, a G-4 on the NOAA Space Weather Scales. This severe storming was the reason the northern lights display was visible so far South.

Forecasters say that solar activity is likely to continue at moderate to high levels for the next several days. Gary Heckman, senior space weather forecaster, says this region of the sun is still explosive and could give rise to more activity. "The question is, will we receive another direct hit from the sun as we did last night," he said.

Strong geomagnetic storms can cause satellites to experience surface charging and orientation problems. Power systems can also be affected. Such storms can also interfere with high frequency radio communications. The initial solar flares already caused brief radio blackouts on the sunlit side of the Earth on Thursday, March 29.

Today, SEC received one report from a power company in the northern U.S. that it was able to reconfigure its power system as a result of the SEC forecast enabling it to weather the severe storm last night with no problems.

The flares that produced these storms were categorized by forecasters as M flares with one X-1 occurring, X being the highest category of flares possible. The flares occurred in the northeast quadrant of the sun, which is expected to continue to be visible for most of next week. There is, therefore, a distinct possibility of more activity. "The region that produced these flares continues to be in a direct line with the Earth and can still produce more storms that would affect Earth's magnetic field," said forecaster Gary Heckman.

"Tonight, the aurora borealis, or northern lights, should again be visible and should reach as far down as 40 degrees latitude," says Heckman. He says there's a 30 percent chance that the Denver area will get to see it. "There is a possibility for occasional severe storming as we experienced last night, which means there's a chance for the northern lights to be visible farther south as well, if the skies are clear."

NOAA's Space Environment Center is the nation's official source of space weather alerts and warnings and continually monitors and forecasts Earth's space environment.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA's Space Environment Center — Click "Space Weather Now" for the latest information on solar activity.

NOAA's Space Weather Scales

NOAA Space Weather Advisories

Today's Space Weather Forecast — Includes the latest image of the sun from Earth-based telescopes positioned around the world.

Real-time images of the Sun from NASA's SOHO Satellite

SPACE WEATHER - WHAT IS IT AND WHY DO WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT?

NEW NOAA SPACE WEATHER SCALES MAKE SOLAR MAX EFFECTS MORE PREDICTABLE

Media Contact:
Barbara McGehan, NOAA Space Environment Center, Boulder, Colo., at (303) 497-6288

 

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