Coronal hole faces Earth, G2 geomagnetic storm watch

Wednesday, 22 March 2023 17:18 UTC

The coronal hole is fairly large as you can see on this picture (header image) made by SDO/AIA in the 193 Ångström wavelength. However, it is located at a fairly high latitude so it is hard to say how much it will influence our planet but the NOAA SWPC believes we will see strong enough solar wind conditions to warrant a moderate G2 geomagnetic storm watch which equals a Kp value of 6.

There are also minor G1 geomagnetic storm watches (max Kp5) in effect for tomorrow (23 March) due to the possible effects of a weak coronal mass ejection passage and for 25 March (Saturday) due to subsiding effects of the previously mentioned coronal hole solar wind stream. More than enough to keep an eye out for in the days ahead if you live at a high latitude location or perhaps even high middle latitude location like the US-Canadian border, Scotland or southern New Zealand!