Major Solar and Geomagnetic Activity Continues
Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Environment Center
Boulder, Colorado, USA
SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY BULLETIN #03- 4
2003 October 30 at 03:48 p.m. MST (2003 October 30 2248 UTC)
**** MAJOR SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY CONTINUES ****
The intense solar flare (category R4 radio blackout – severe) that
occurred on October 28th at 1110 UTC (6:10 A.M. EST) and its associated
coronal mass ejection (CME) produced a category G5 (extreme)
geomagnetic storm starting at 0613 UTC (1:13 A.M. EST) on October 29th.
This geomagnetic storm lasted for twenty-four hours and produced
category G3 (strong) through category G5 (extreme) conditions.
The dynamic sunspot region known as NOAA Active Region 486 continues to
produce major solar activity. On October 29th, at 2049 UTC (3:39 P.M.
EST), this region produced another major solar flare resulting in a
category R4 (severe) radio blackout. Associated with this solar flare
was a cloud of energized particles known as a coronal mass ejection
(CME). This CME, moving at over five million miles per hour impacted
Earth’s magnetic field at 1620 UTC (11:20 A.M. EST) on October 30th and
produced another category G5 (extreme) geomagnetic storm. This
geomagnetic storm is expected to continue through midday on October
31st.
This intense activity is occurring unusually late in this solar cycle,
it has also produced the second largest solar flare and solar radiation
storm of the cycle. The primary source of this activity, NOAA Active
Region 486, has become the largest sunspot region observed during this
cycle.
Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA,
USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services
and other observatories, universities, and institutions. For more
information, including email services, see SEC’s Space Weather
Advisories Web site http://sec.noaa.gov/advisories or (303) 497-5127.
The NOAA Public Affairs contact is Barbara McGehan at
Barbara.McGehan@noaa.gov or (303) 497-6288.
