This week our Sun kicks things into high gear starting with a surprisingly strong period of storming from some fast solar wind. The magic ingredient was a magnetic island growing inside the coronal hole generating the wind, which led to huge aurora shows deep into mid-latitudes at Earth. Although the fast wind is still ongoing, the peak of the storm has passed and we should return to calm conditions on Earth’s nightside in the next day or so. That being said, new regions are growing fast on the Sun’s east limb and that means big flares and radio blackouts are expected to return later in the week on earth’s dayside. Noise on the dayside radio bands will also start increasing over the next few days so amateur radio operators and GPS users should stay vigilant for more signal degradation and reception issues. Learn the details of what caused the strong G3-level storming, catch aurora highlights from recent storms, and find out how the new east limb activity will affect you.

We have two Earth-directed solar storms hitting Earth now! The first, is a stealth-like CME, which is wispy and short, but the second and much larger storm has a hidden surprise. Its signature during the eruption and later in coronagraph imagery signals that there may be quite a bit of coronal material on its way to us. This may be why we are already seeing a strong shock signature before the event has even arrived. Aurora photographers could get a great show if the magnetic field of this storm is favorably oriented, even down into mid-latitudes. However, radio operators and GPS users should expect the next couple of days will bring disruptions and mild inconveniences with respect to radio signal propagation and GPS reception. Precision farmers, satellite navigation users, and UAV pilots should remain extra vigilant over the next couple of days as unexpected signal fades or erroneous navigation and timing signals are possible. Learn the details of this coming storm, see when aurora may be visible, and find out what else our Sun has in store.