Contact:Barbara McGehan, (303) 497-6288

 
NOAA’s Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo., detected a major solar flare and has issued a forecast for solar activity to persist at moderate levels for the next 24 hours. Using the newly developed Space Weather Scales, the storm is categorized as a moderate storm or G-2 event, after initially spiking up to a severe storm or G-4 on a scale of 1-5.
 
The storm began Thursday, April 6, in Earth’s magnetic field at 12:40 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The storm originated from activity on the sun that occurred at 10:34 a.m. EDT on April 4.
 
The solar wind and particles emitted as a result of this event produced auroral displays in the northern latitudes. Space weather forecaster Eric Ort, in the NOAA Space Environment Center Space Weather Operations, has received reports from Dublin, Ireland, saying the northern lights display there was "spectacular." The center of the storm rotated westward through Thursday night. The preferred times of brightest auroral display is in the four hours centered on midnight. At this time, forecasters think the intense part of the storm will ease by Friday night but with a chance of another outbreak on Sunday, April 9.
 
So far the solar cycle that is now approaching maximum has not produced an  abundance of major geomagnetic storms. The rate of activity is expected to continue to increase though the next few months. Solar maximum as determined by sunspot numbers is expected later this year but the full volley of geomagnetic storms may not occur for another two years or so.
 
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.
 
* NOAA’s Latest Space Weather Alerts, Warnings and Forecasts
  http://www.sec.noaa.gov/Data/Latest.html
* NOAA’s Space Weather
  http://www.spaceweather.noaa.gov/
* NOAA in Space — Photo Library
  http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/lb_images/space/
* NOAA’s Space Weather Instruments
  http://www.spaceweather.noaa.gov/stories/sw2b.htm
* NEW NOAA SPACE WEATHER SCALES MAKE SOLAR MAX EFFECTS MORE PREDICTABLE   http://www.spaceweather.noaa.gov/stories/sw2.htm
* SPACE WEATHER — WHAT IS IT AND WHY DO WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT?   http://www.spaceweather.noaa.gov/stories/sw2c.htm