Flares Pick Up & A Solar Storm Heads Towards Earth | Space Weather News 08.18.2020

This week our Sun holds our attention with multiple bright regions flaring and launching solar storms. One of these solar storms is partly Earth-directed and should impact Earth late on August 19 or by midday August 20. This storm is the first “fast” solar storm of this new cycle (compared to the slower, weaker storms during solar minimum). As such it could give us our best chance of aurora views yet down to mid-latitudes! On top of that we are managing to stay in the low 70s for solar flux, despite having a spotless Sun so amateur radio operators should enjoy marginal radio propagation on Earth’s dayside over this next week. Of course radio propagation and GPS reception will be affected once the solar storm hits, but overall the boost in activity lately is a sure sign of Solar Cycle 25 really getting underway! Learn the details of the coming storm, how it will affect you, and see what else our Sun has in store this week.