Status Report

Space Weather Bulletin #00- 13 Major Solar Activity Continues 24 Nov 2000

By SpaceRef Editor
November 24, 2000
Filed under ,

Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Environment Center
Boulder, Colorado, USA

SPACE WEATHER BULLETIN #00- 13

2000 November 24 at 9:48 a.m. MST (2000 November 24 1648 UT)

**** MAJOR SOLAR ACTIVITY CONTINUES ****

Another category R3 (strong) radio blackout occurred on November 24 at
08:13 a.m. MST (2000 November 24 1513 UTC) due to a major solar flare
from a large active sunspot group near center disk on the sun (current
location North 21 West 04). This region has produced two strong events
in the past ten hours. The region is expected to be visible from Earth
for the next seven days and is likely to produce additional major
events. Category R3 radio blackouts usually result in the following
system effects on the sunlit side of the Earth: wide area blackout of
high-frequency radio communication with loss of radio contact for about
an hour and low-frequency navigation signals degraded for about an
hour.

Solar radiation storms reaching S1 (minor) levels are also in progress
as a result of these events. Category S1 solar radiation storms
usually result in the following system effects on the sunlit side of
the Earth: minor impacts on HF radio in the polar regions.

Geomagnetic storms reaching G3 (strong) levels are expected to start
late on the UTC day Saturday, November 25, as a consequence of these
events. Category G3 geomagnetic storms usually result in the following
system effects: power system voltage corrections may be required,
false alarms triggered on some protection devices, surface charging may
occur on satellite components, drag may increase on low-Earth-orbit
satellites, and corrections may be needed for orientation problems,
intermittent satellite navigation and low-frequency radio navigation
problems may occur, HF radio may be intermittent, and aurora has been
seen as low as Illinois and Oregon (typically 50 degrees geomagnetic
latitude).

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. More
information is available at SEC’s Web site http://sec.noaa.gov or
(303) 497-5127. The NOAA Public Affairs contact is Barbara McGehan
at bmcgehan@boulder.noaa.gov or (303) 497-6288.

SpaceRef staff editor.