A long lasting Geomagnetic Storm that reached very close to the Strong G3 Level took place Monday night and early Tuesday morning. Visible Aurora was seen in many locations and Ham Radio operators were able to make numerous contacts via the Aurora on the 6 meter (50mhz) amateur radio band. This storm was due to a sharply south pointing component of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) that allowed the solar wind to flow in and generate aurora. Things are now starting to return to quieter levels.
UPDATE: Minor Geomagnetic Storm conditions (Kp=5) did again flare up on both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. The solar wind is currently near 500 km/s. Be on the lookout for Aurora at very high latitudes.
Updated 4/26/2012 @ 13:40 UTC
Solar Update
Solar activity is currently at very low levels. Sunspot 1460 just rotated onto the western limb and out of direct Earth view. Sunspot 1459 which continues to decay, will also join 1460 on the limb by the weekend. Elsewhere, Sunspot 1465 did have a Beta-Gamma-Delta magnetic configuration, but has itself decayed and is no longer a threat for strong solar flares. There will continue to be a chance for C-Class flares.
From: http://ping.fm/yTPrw
