Monday, 24 March 2025

Coronal hole faces Earth

The anticipated strong G3 geomagnetic storm watch never materialized as the coronal mass ejection that was supposed to arrive early yesterday didn't arrive until today just past midnight UTC. The impact was very lackluster with the Bt (total strength of the IMF) increasing to a moderate 15nT at best and the solar wind speed reaching just 420km/s. A far cry from the anticipated 700 to 800km/s. That once again goes to show how hard it is to forecast space weather events and any resulting geomagnetic conditions. We remain under the influence of the CME and high latitude sky watchers should remain alert for some nice aurora displays but middle latitude sky watchers will probably have to wait for the next opportunity. 

13:55 UTC - Coronal hole

A transequatorial coronal hole is facing Earth. Enhanced solar wind could arrive in ~3 days

02:45 UTC - Geomagnetic activity

Active geomagnetic conditions (Kp4) Threshold Reached: 02:33 UTC