Minor G1 geomagnetic storm

Wednesday, 10 July 2019 09:51 UTC

It all started two days ago around 18:30 UTC. A minor shock in the solar wind was observed by our systems back on 8 June. If you follow us on Twitter or have the SpaceWeatherLive Android or iOS app installed you might have seen the automated coronal mass ejection impact alert.

This wasn't expected and it could be an undetected coronal mass ejection or the leading edge of a coronal hole solar wind stream that formed a shock. Hard to tell but the first initial shock could have very well be a stealthy coronal mass ejection that slipped under the radar. It is hard to say for sure but what we do know for sure is that we are inside a high speed coronal hole solar wind stream since yesterday. The solar wind speed increased to over 600km/s and the north-south direction (Bz) of the interplanetary magnetic field has been pointing mostly southward which fuels the auroral ovals here on Earth. This propelled us up to minor G1 geomagnetic storm conditions yesterday at 20:28 UTC and today at 07:26 UTC for the first time since 8 June. Excellent news for high latitude aurora watchers who should remain alert for more auroral displays for the remainder of this day. Do follow the data live on this website if you are a high latitude sky watcher with dark skies! Good luck!