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Solar Storm Recap

G3 Aurora Recorded Sept 27/28 – More G1 Ahead

Northern Lights Now – The late September geomagnetic activity resulting from a large coronal hole has exceeded initial expectations reaching G3 storm levels and helping aurora hunters world-wide capture staggering views. Solar wind speeds have been between 650 and 750 km/s for just over 24 hours now. Periods of high density and negative Bz, and quickly fluctuating Bz during that time pushed KP values above 6.67 for several hours.

Recorded KP values from SWPC in Boulder indicate 7 synoptic periods for G1+, 2 with G3 stroming
Recorded KP values from SWPC in Boulder indicate 7 synoptic periods for G1+, 2 with G3 stroming

The timing worked well for aurora hunters from Northern Europe across Northern North America. Clouds disrupted viewing in the UK and New England, but many locations saw vivid displays of Green, Red and Purple overnight.

Wendy T shared this great set of 4 images

Casey Grimley captured some pinks and the coveted fishbone aurora in Ogden Valley

And Jeff Wallace shared some spectacular full sky Gree swirling aurora

Looking ahead – it seems likely that at least G1 storming will continue through at least the next 12 hours or so. SWPC has extended their G1 storm watch an additional 24 hours through Sept 29.

Looking ahead - G1 watch is extended through Sept 29
Looking ahead – G1 watch is extended through Sept 29

We love that you share your photos with us on Twitter and on Facebook. Thank you for helping with out mission to help as many people see the aurora borealis as possible.

Happy Hunting

Solar Storm Recap

Update #2: Mid-October Aurora Reached G2 storming, G3 predicted

Northern Lights Now – The predicted G1, then upgraded to G2, aurora predicted for October 13-15 is meeting and exceeding expectations. KP values recorded in 3-hour increments by the airforce and SWPC were registering between G1 and G2 for much of the day. KP predictions from the Wing-KP model ranged from 4.67 to 7.67 from Noon GMT through Midnight GMT. SWPC has upgraded the watch level on the 14th to G3. Storming will likely only reach that level if the storm continues to intensify – and there have been some hints that it is starting to wane. Here is the chart showing today’s recorded geomagnetic activity:

Global Geomagnetic activity recorded on Oct 13 in 3-hour increments
Global Geomagnetic activity recorded on Oct 13 in 3-hour increments

At the peak of today’s storm the Bz had rotated powerfully to the south, registering as much as -20 nT. This is some of the strongest negative orientation of the Bz since the Saint Patrick’s day storm of 2015. In addition to being strongly south, the field maintained that orientation for a long time. As of this writing, the Bz had been negative for almost 20 hours. This is the longest duration negative Bz since NLN started producing this graphic that shows the duration certain important thresholds for aurora have been exceeded:

NLN Solar Wind Charts show long duration and powerfully south oriented Bz and strong Bt too
NLN Solar Wind Charts show long duration and powerfully south oriented Bz and strong Bt too

With a storm this strong, we’d normally expect to see many wonderful aurora pictures rolling in from our readers and aurora hunters. However, there were a lot of clouds in the normal viewing locations. In NLN’s HQ city of Burlington Vt it was raining most of the day and is cloudy this evening. The Moon is also nearly full, currently at 94% visible, and is washing out the aurora for people who have clear skies. That isn’t stopping photographers, and there are a few beautiful pictures rolling in. Here are a few. Please tag @northlightalert in your photos if you’d like to have them featured in the NLN blog!

Ontario got in on the action:

And upstate New York in Rochester:

Behind a tractor in Wisconsin:

Just a hint from Ireland: