Enhanced solar wind, Coronal hole faces Earth
Wednesday, 2 March 2016 17:06 UTC
We are currently feeling the effects of a coronal hole solar wind stream. The solar wind speed increased to almost 500km/s with a fluctuating north-south (Bz) direction of the IMF. Well worth keeping an eye on the solar wind data in the hours ahead as we could see enhanced auroral activity if the Bz decides to turn southward.
Coronal hole faces Earth
Meanwhile looking at our nearest star we see that she's really taking a nap. Solar activity is very low (B-class activity only) and none of the sunspot regions on the Earth-facing solar disk are complex enough for M or X-class activity. Even C-class solar flares are unlikely at this time.
Our only hope for enhanced auroral displays are the coronal hole solar wind streams at the moment and lucky us, we have yet another (albeit minor) coronal hole facing Earth right now. Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole could arrive at Earth in about two to three days from now but geomagnetic storming is not expected from this solar wind stream.
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Current data suggests there is a slight possibility for aurora to appear at the following high latitude regions in the near future
Gillam, MB, Whitehorse, YT, Yellowknife, NTAnchorage, AK, Fairbanks, AK, Juneau, AK, Utqiagvik, AK
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