[ RadSafe ] [gse-aa] Auroral Alert -- getting more better <g>

[Maury]

[gse-aa] Auroral Alert

The auroral activity index of 5 and 6 that occurred on the 7th (today) 
is the result of the solar event on the 5th that was the subject of the 
previous alert.  Aurora should have been visible as far south as the 
middle of the US on the night of Mar 6/7, as we predicted in the last alert.

A large solar event early on the 7th of March was directly more closely 
to the Earth-Sun line, and should produce more activity.  The debris 
should reach Earth sometime in the late morning of March 8 GMT.  This 
means that the resulting aurora may be visible late on the night of the 
7th/8th from Alaska, but Western Russia, Europe, and the US will 
probably see activity levels of Kp=5 or greater on the night of March 8/9.

Note that activity on the 7th may still be greater than Kp=4.

We are having trouble with the short-term forecast panel on the aurora 
forecast website http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/, but watch the 
short term forecast to determine what the activity level will be in the 
next hour.