NOAA Space Weather Advisory Outlook #03- 44
Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Environment Center
Boulder, Colorado, USA
SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #03- 44
2003 November 04 at 05:31 p.m. MST (2003 November 05 0031 UTC)
**** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK ****
Summary For October 27-November 4
Space weather during the past week reached extreme levels. The dynamic
solar region, NOAA Active Region 486, continues to produce high levels
of solar activity. Region 486 produced a category R4 (severe) radio
blackout on October 28th at 4:10 a.m.. MST (1110 UTC). Associated with
the this large solar flare was a category S4 (severe) solar radiation
storm at 5:25 p.m. MST on October 28th (29th at 0025 UTC). This large
flare also produced a cloud of energized particle known as a coronal
mass ejection or CME, which was directed straight at Earth. When the
CME reached earth it produced a category G5 (extreme) geomagnetic storm
starting at 11:13 p. m. MST on October 28th (the 29th at 0613 UTC).
This geomagnetic storm produced category G3 (strong) through category
G5 (extreme) conditions over the next twenty-four hours.
NOAA Active Region 486 continued to produce solar activity with yet
another major solar flare at 1:39 p.m. MST on October 29th (2049 UTC)
resulting in a category R4 (severe) radio blackout. A CME was
associated with this second solar flare also. This CME, moving at over
five million miles per hour impacted Earth’s magnetic field at 9:20
a.m. MST on October 30th (1620 UTC) and produced another category G5
(extreme) geomagnetic storm. This geomagnetic storm produced category
G1 (minor) through category G5 (extreme) conditions over the next
twenty-four hours.
During the past week, NOAA Active Region 486 grew to become the largest
sunspot region observed during this solar cycle. The activity produce
by this active region also ranked up there with the largest activity
recorded. For a list of adverse system effects related to space
weather storms, please refer to the NOAA Space Weather Scales.
Outlook For November 5-11
Space weather for the next week is expected to reach moderate levels. A
category G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm is expected on day two or day
three of the forecast period. Activity is expected to decrease after
November 6th when NOAA Active Region 486 rotates well beyond the west
limb.
For current space weather conditions please refer to:
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.
