A Storm Hits Earth After a Farside Blast | Solar Storm Forecast 26 July 2023

This week, the big events are focused on the Sun’s farside, but we still have quite a bit of activity facing Earth, including an Earth-directed solar storm. Sadly, nothing spoils a good aurora forecast like a solar storm hitting early. Even though NASA and NOAA predicted the arrival on July 26, the storm had its own timeline and beat even the most optimistic predictions, arriving late on July 25th. We have already seen aurora down as far south as places like Ireland in the UK, and South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho in the USA. The solar storm is beginning to wane now, but sporadic shows are still likely over the next 24 hours. Solar flares also should quiet down here over the next couple of days as Regions 3372, 3373, and 3376 rotate to the Sun’s farside. We will have a small reprieve when it comes to noise on the dayside radio bands for a few days before things ramp back up again with some returning regions rotating into view. Amateur radio operators should be sure to enjoy the short-lived break. Learn the details of the solar storm hitting now, see the big farside blast that Region 3363 just unleashed on the farside, and learn how much time we have until big activity returns to Earth-view.