ANOTHER SOLAR STORM REACHES EARTH; LARGEST FLARE ON RECORD

Nov. 6, 2003 — Forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo., say that the coronal mass ejection, CME, associated with the huge X-28 flare that occurred on Tuesday, reached the Earth’s magnetic field Thursday afternoon at 3:37 p.m. EST. It’s the largest flare recorded by NOAA since records began in 1976. This latest flare kicked off a geomagnetic storm at the G-1 or minor level, based on the NOAA space weather scales that run 1 to 5. (Click NOAA satellite image for larger view of sun taken on Nov. 5, 2003, at 7:02 a.m. EST. Click here to view latest solar images. Please credit “NOAA.”)

Because the flare was nearing the western side of the sun when it erupted, the most significant result of the flare was a total HF (high frequency) radio blackout over the western U.S. and Pacific, which happened almost immediately on Tuesday when the flare exploded. An associated radiation storm, S-2, or moderate storm, seriously degraded HF communications at higher latitudes.

A minor or S-1 radiation storm was declining Thursday afternoon. NOAA space weather forecaster Bill Murtagh said, “We were very fortunate that this storm was directed away from the Earth. The effects could have been even stronger than the X-17 flare that erupted on Oct. 28, which caused considerable disruption to various technological systems around the planet.”

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation’s coastal and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA Space Environment Center

NOAA Space Weather Scales

NOAA Solar X-ray Imager — Latest Views of the Sun

Latest SOHO images

Media Contact:
Barbara McGehan, NOAA Space Environment Center, (303) 497-6288