AURORA WATCH: Auroras are possible tonight

Ref: http://spaceweather.com/

AURORA WATCH: Auroras are possible tonight because the
interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth has turned sharply
south--a condition that favors geomagnetic activity. If you live at
high latitudes, be alert for colorful lghts in the sky.

SOLAR ACTIVITY: Sunspot 649 has been very active, producing five
X-class solar flares since July 15th. The most powerful so far was
an X3-class flare at 1355 UT (6:55 a.m. PDT) on July 16th.
Remarkably, none of these blasts has hurled a coronal mass ejection
(CME) directly toward Earth, so geomagnetic activity might remain
low despite high levels of solar activity.


Ref: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/forecasts/ALTS.txt

:Product: SEC Space Weather Alerts ALTS.txt
:Issued: 2004 Jul 17 0030 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center
# See http://sec.noaa.gov/alerts/ for description and other displays
# Send comments and suggestions to
#
# SEC Space Weather Alerts Issued in the last 24 hours
#---------------------------------------------------------------------

Space Weather Message Code: WARK05
Serial Number: 425
Issue Time: 2004 Jul 17 0024 UTC

WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 5 expected
Valid From: 2004 Jul 17 0025 UTC
Valid To: 2004 Jul 17 1500 UTC
Warning Condition: Onset

#-------------------------------------------------
Space Weather Message Code: ALTK04
Serial Number: 925
Issue Time: 2004 Jul 16 2330 UTC

ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 4
Threshold Reached: 2004 Jul 16 2328 UTC
Synoptic Period: 2100-2400 UTC
Active Warning: Yes

#-------------------------------------------------
Space Weather Message Code: WARK04
Serial Number: 925
Issue Time: 2004 Jul 16 2245 UTC

WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 4 expected
Valid From: 2004 Jul 16 2245 UTC
Valid To: 2004 Jul 17 0600 UTC
Warning Condition: Onset

#-------------------------------------------------
Space Weather Message Code: SUMSUD
Serial Number: 46
Issue Time: 2004 Jul 16 2203 UTC

SUMMARY: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse
Observed: 2004 Jul 16 2158 UTC
Deviation: 14 nT
Station: Boulder

#-------------------------------------------------
Space Weather Message Code: WARSUD
Serial Number: 36
Issue Time: 2004 Jul 16 2127 UTC

WARNING: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse expected
Valid From: 2004 Jul 16 2200 UTC
Valid To: 2004 Jul 16 2210 UTC
IP Shock Passage Observed: 2004 Jul 16 2107 UTC

-Sam Wormley
http://edu-observatory.org/eo/aurora.html

"Sam Wormley" wrote in message
...
Ref: http://spaceweather.com/

AURORA WATCH: Auroras are possible tonight because the
interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth has turned sharply
south--a condition that favors geomagnetic activity. If you live at
high latitudes, be alert for colorful lghts in the sky.


Saw display last night 12 AM PDT