Solar Storm Warning: A CIR is Expected to Hit Earth's Magnetic Field

Another round of solar storms expected to blast Earth. A stream of solar wind is heading for Earth, and it should arrive before New Year's Eve. The wind is flowing from a coronal hole (CH) in the sun's atmosphere.

The action begins during the late hours of Dec. 30th when a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field.

CIRs are transition zones between slow- and fast-moving solar wind streams. Solar wind plasma piles up in these regions, producing density gradients and shock waves that do a good job of sparking auroras.

After the CIR arrives, a stream of fast-moving (600 km/s) solar wind will follow. The combined effect could produce G1-class geomagnetic storms and bright Arctic auroras on Dec. 30-31.

The wind is flowing from a coronal hole (CH) in the sun's atmosphere, shown here in a Dec. 28th image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

http://www.spaceweather.com/ http://www.solarham.net/

NOAA SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER (NOAA/SWPC)

A G1 (Minor) Geomagnetic Storm Watch has been issued for 31 Dec 16 (UTC Day) due to the anticipated arrival of an isolated, positive-polarity CH HSS. http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

Clips, images credit: NOAA/SWPC & NASA/SDO http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/