8/26 Recap


Today was a bit jostled with a couple M Class Solar Flares and Electron Saturation hovering around its Alert Threshold, and tomorrow morning will be similar. But we’ve got a Coronal Hole’s HSS arriving tomorrow afternoon, followed by 2-3 CMEs that’ll keep us quite jostled for about 36 hours, peaking overnight the next 2 nights. Space weather isn’t expected to grant us much reprieve during the days before 8/29 when things should calm down.
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We can also expect continued M Class Solar Flares the next several days as the 3 chummy Sun Spots that have been keeping the center Sun Spot tossing M Class Solar Flares cross the Sun-Earth Magnetic Line. To keep things interesting, the northern agitating Sun Spot grew and gained an M-Class-Solar-Flare-Capable status today.
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Solar Wind Speed dropped into the 200 km/sec range today, and I hope everyone affected by Solar Wind Speed enjoyed that calm, because it’ll be several days before we get anywhere near that again. Most forecasts are expected we’ll get into the 500 km/sec range with the CH HSS and that the incoming CMEs will keep us there until around 8/31.
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Electron Saturation spent it’s 6th full day hovering around its Alert Threshold today. The Good News is that the incoming CMEs should carry off a bunch of those electrons, allowing Electron Saturation to finally drop back to Normal-Moderate levels. Proton Saturation dropped back to Normal levels today. As always, whether or not it stays there is entirely dependent on how many M Class Solar Flares we see, especially with the two Sun Spots capable of M Class Solar Flares in the Sun-Earth Magnetic Line.
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Solar Flare Conditions
M2.2 Solar Flare 8/26 @ 1.34a CDT from Incoming Sun Spot
M1.0 Solar Flare @ 7.14a CDT from Incoming Sun Spot
M Class Solar Flare Watch
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Geomagnetic Conditions
HP = 0.3 Average
HP = 5 (G1) Geomagnetic Storm Watch
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Solar Wind Conditions
Solar Wind Density < 3.0/cm3 Solar Wind Speed ~330 km/sec 8/25 @ 7.00p CDT, ~300 km/sec beginning 8/26 @ 4.41a CDT, ~275 km/sec beginning 12.40p CDT Solar Wind Speed >500 km/sec Watch
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Electron and Proton Saturation Conditions
Electron Saturation ~1K pfu beginning 8/20 @ 11.40a CDT and continuing to 8/26 @ 9.30p
Proton Saturation Moderate
Electron Saturation ~1K pfu Warning and Watch
Connie Howell