Viewing archive of Thursday, 20 August 1998

Solar activity report

Any mentioned solar flare in this report has a scaling factor applied by the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). Because of the SWPC scaling factor, solar flares are reported as 42% smaller than for the science quality data. The scaling factor has been removed from our archived solar flare data to reflect the true physical units.
Report of Solar-Geophysical Activity 1998 Aug 20 2200 UTC
Prepared by the NOAA © SWPC and processed by SpaceWeatherLive.com

Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity

SDF Number 232 Issued at 2200Z on 20 AUG 1998

IA. Analysis of Solar Active Regions and Activity from 19-2100Z to 20-2100Z

SOLAR ACTIVITY HAS BEEN HIGH WITH A SINGLE X3.9 FLARE AT 19/2145 FROM REGION 8307 (N32E60). THERE WAS AN ASSOCIATED TYPE II AND IV SWEEP INDICATING A SHOCK WITH A SPEED OF 1400 KM/S +/-200 KM/S. REGION 8310 (N23E66) AND 8311 (N19E01) WERE NUMBERED TODAY. REGION 8307 HAS MOVED FAR ENOUGH ONTO THE DISK THAT A RELIABLE CLASSIFICATION HAS BEEN PERFORMED. IT IS CLASSIFIED AS A EKO BETA DELTA WITH 8 SPOTS AND AN AREA OF 440 MILLIONTHS. THE MAGNETIC CLASSIFICATION STILL NEEDS TO BE REFINED AS THE SPOT MOVES CLOSER TO CENTER DISK.
IB. Solar Activity Forecast
SOLAR ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE MODERATE TO HIGH THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD.
IIA. Geophysical Activity Summary 19-2100Z to 20-2100Z
THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD HAS BEEN UNSETTLED TO ACTIVE. DATA FROM THE ACE SPACECRAFT INDICATE THAT A SMALL, SLOW SHOCK PASSED BY EARTH OVER THE LAST 20 HOURS. ENHANCED DENSITY, SLOW BULK SPEED, AND SEMI-SMOOTH TRANSITION OF BZ FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS CONCLUSION.
IIB. Geophysical Activity Forecast
THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD IS EXPECTED TO BE QUIET TO ACTIVE WITH PERIODS OF MINOR STORM AT HIGHER LATITUDES.
III. Event Probabilities 21 AUG to 23 AUG
Class M75%75%75%
Class X40%40%40%
Proton15%15%15%
PCAFGREEN
IV. Penticton 10.7 cm Flux
  Observed       20 AUG 139
  Predicted   21 AUG-23 AUG  142/146/150
  90 Day Mean        20 AUG 115
V. Geomagnetic A Indices
OBSERVED AFR/AP 19 AUG  006/009
ESTIMATED AFR/AP 20 AUG  015/015
PREDICTED AFR/AP 21 AUG-23 AUG  025/020-020/018-015/010
VI. Geomagnetic Activity Probabilities 21 AUG to 23 AUG
A. Middle Latitudes
Active20%20%15%
Minor storm10%10%05%
Major-severe storm05%05%05%
B. High Latitudes
Active30%25%20%
Minor storm15%10%10%
Major-severe storm05%05%05%

All times in UTC

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