We still have some high-speed solar wind affecting Earth right now. Speeds are near 700 km/s. There is a possibility again for some brief mid-latitude horizon shows along the U.S.-Canada border during substorms. High-latitudes may have active auroral conditions.

iPhone shot of the aurora last night about two hours south of Fairbanks!

Found clear skies south of Fairbanks!

Potential STEVE aurora developing over Fairbanks right now!

Wow, I checked the webcams at JUST the right time. Look at the nice aurora ongoing now from northern Maine. A substorm is in progress! go.theauroraguy.com/webcams This may be visible from most U.S.-Canada border states.

A substorm is ongoing with tall, red pillars visible from northern Maine right now! Get outside and look north if you have clear skies and are north of the 45th parallel. Views may be naked eye visible. If not, use a phone to gather more color.

Auroral cinnamon rolls and generally high auroral activity happening now over Rabbit Lake, SK. This is a live look through the U. Calgary's TREx camera system. Rabbit Lake is about 280 mi north of the U.S.-Canada border. go.theauroraguy.com/webcams

The ongoing high-speed solar wind has created some intense substorming activity at high-latitudes. Check out the past ~24 hours in the AE index! Quite impressive. Continued auroral activity at high-latitudes will probably continue tonight for North America. Get ready!

Fast solar wind is currently creating minor geomagnetic storming at Earth. Intense substorm activity may be expected today at high-latitudes with some chances for mid-latitude horizon shows.

Active auroras at Toolik Field Station in Alaska tonight. We are under a winter storm advisory with neighboring areas under blizzard warnings here in Fairbanks. go.theauroraguy.com/webcams

So, what is creating this fast wind we are currently experiencing? Speeds are > 700 km/s and if we had -Bz, we may instead be experiencing G1-G2 storming instead of Kp 4, only. I've produced some annotated plots with thoughts. The solar wind polarity is positive, importantly. Thoughts?

Auroral activity has picked up tonight especially around 430 UT due to the high solar wind speed and moderately strong Bt ~ 10 nT. Here is the THEMIS ASI mosaic movie for tonight so far. The source of the fast wind is debated since CH15+ should not yet be geoeffective.

A beautiful aurora cinnamon roll last night on our tour! The temperature was a balmy -20 F. Luckily, it was clear in Fairbanks in some spots and mostly cloudy everywhere else, so besides finding the clear gap, not much driving was involved last night :)

The aurora right now from North Pole, Alaska. Air temp -20 F. Winds calm. Nice night. First substorm tonight was to the north. The next will likely be overhead when we are rotated further under the oval. iPhone video handheld. Colors seen are naked-eye visible.

Opening the front door tonight from my apartment in Alaska. Filmed with my iPhone so the colors are very close to what I saw with my naked eye. The aurora was bright to the north.

Here it comes! Over the past several days, a large coronal hole has emerged from the farside of the Sun now almost directly facing Earth. We may start to feel the fast solar wind from this feature by Jan 17 when minor geomagnetic storming may occur. Stay tuned...

The large coronal hole about to face Earth: Now (right) vs. one Carrington rotation ago (left). The coronal hole now actually appears to be healthier than it was about a month ago. This may mean a "cleaner" CIR and high-speed stream onset.

Wow, a large, transequatorial coronal hole is about to face Earth. This coronal hole is sending fast solar wind into space. This solar wind stream may start affecting Earth as soon as this weekend, and minor geomagnetic storming is possible. Stay tuned for more updates on this feature...

AR 4341, which has produced strong flares recently, has seen some growth in the southern aresa of the sunspot group. This is encouraging if we are hoping for more flaring and CME eruptions as the region moves closer to the Earth-strike zone.

Here is a movie which shows difference images and the potentially Earth-directed CME. The coronal hole is right next to the active region and CME, so maybe that will accelerate it further. We will see what emerges in coronagraphs, but finally we have some Earth-directed action!

It seems to me that an Earth-directed CME may have just launched. Check out the coronal dimming surrounding AR 4340 in conjunction with a C3.8 flare. We may not see much in the way of coronagraph signatures from this eruption, but I'm interested to see the upcoming models.

A long-duration, confined (no CME) M1.63 flare has just peaked from AR 4341. There are no anticipated effects for Earth besides a minor radio blackout. No CME was launched. It's possible to see more flares around this incoming AR as it moves close to the Earth-strike zone.

An M-flare is now occuring from AR 4341 (currently M1.59). It does not look like a CME is being generated... the takeaway from this event is AR 4341 is still active and may produce additional M-flares as it approaches the Earth-strike zone.

A large coronal hole is rotating to directly face Earth in the coming days. High-speed solar wind may arrive at Earth as early as Jan 17 sparking minor or moderate (G1-G2) geomagnetic storming. Mid-latitude aurora chasers may have a chance at some activity this weekend.

Incredible Sky

A new active region is appearing over the Sun's eastern limb. This area produced a long-duration M3.3 flare a couple days ago and likely was responsible for the large, fast halo CME on the farside last week. Let's see if it still has juice for more activity facing Earth...

Beautiful "angel wing"-appearance eruption is ongoing now from the Sun's northern hempshere. This CME is not directed our way, but is sure is beautiful to look at. One of the more spectacular eruptions of late...

A large, northern-hsmiephere filament lifted off today in a spectacular eruption. Take a look here at GOES SUVI imagery over the past three hours. This CME will not effect Earth, it's just another example of beautiful eye candy from our closest star :)

Very cold morning here… tires were like squares when driving to class

Nice aurora tonight at -40 degrees! 12:18 am AKST.

Looks like some faint aurora already beginning to the north here in Fairbanks, Alaska. Pretty impressive for 520 pm local. Solar wind conditions are favorable for good aurora tonight. Watch live if you want to see what happens: go.theauroraguy.com/webcams

Pretty incredible sundogs today in Fairbanks, Alaska!

NEW PAGE: "How to Plan a Trip to Fairbanks, Alaska to see the aurora." This page answers a lot of the top questions I get from folks planning a trip to Fairbanks to see the aurora. Start here if you're considering a trip. Check it out: theauroraguy.com/pages/how-to...

Full moon auroras in Fairbanks, Alaska

-22 F / -30 C on the way to class this morning. 0.7 mi / 1.1 km and this is what my beard looks like. We’re heading down to -45 F / -43 C tonight.

Some low-level auroral activity already starting for Fairbanks! You'll have to drive to clear skies, but both Levi and Maia are out with full groups right now and seeing this show which should only improve as we have -Bz currently. go.theauroraguy.com/webcams

The M3.3 flare from the east-limb region (not yet rotated on) produced a spectacular CME that is heading away from Earth. If this were headed towards Earth, we may be preparing for a large geomagnetic storm right now! Another miss, unfortunately.

We have been over the M-flare threshold for over two hours! Here is a close-up view of this flare which peaked at M3.38 at 2314 UT on Jan 10. The actual magnitude may have been >M5 since the source region was occulted... a CME is associated but is not Earth-directed.

Current solar wind conditions look great for high-latitude auroral activity and some minor displays on the northern horizon for those above the 45th parallel... tracking substorms will be important since those times will see the best shows. Clouds may be an issue for some areas. #heliophysics

M1.58 flare (but peaking soon) occuring from an active region off the Sun's eastern limb. The actual flare magnitude was probably a bit larger than what we see here due to the region being occulted. The Earth won't feel anything from this even if a CME is generated.

8 hours of driving last night halfway to the CA border to get this aurora, but it was worth it! That’s the benefit of joining an aurora tour—you have a guide with you able to find clear skies, stay up at night to create a safe situation being on the road, and capture the moment you see the aurora.

It seems like we are passing through a West-South-East (WSE) flux rope inside the CME. This means Bz south conditions may continue for some time, but as I am writing this, Bt seems to be falling off indicating we may be transitioning to a new structure inside the CME or a new CME... we'll see!

Why did OVATION have this strange behavior last night? The OVATION model relies on solar wind data to calculate the auroral oval picture and hemispheric power (in GW). When there are issues with the satellite data feeds, the model doesn't know its inputs and it glitches out.

Solar wind conditions are favorable for active high-latitude auroras over Europe right now especially during substorms when auroral visibility may extend into central or even southern Europe. The OVATION model is indicating > 100 GW of auroral "power."

Another night of active, high-latitude auroras is beginning for Northern Europe! Strong substorms may even cause some horizon views in Central or even Southern Europe. Keep an eye on real-time data!

Here’s a quick update on the solar storm that’s currently affecting Earth. We’ll have to monitor conditions closely for substorms and any changes to the waning solar storm to see mid-latitude aurora across the Lower 48.

Wow, nice aurora in Maine now with tall pink emissions that are probably visible from dark and clear locations north of the 45th parallel. Check it out: go.theauroraguy.com/webcams

This webcam in Maine will be a great resource to watch as night falls over the eastern U.S. There are relatively clear skies here and aurora will likely show up low on the horizon. Substorms may push auroral visibility down to the 45th parallel early in the night, but we'll see!

G2 conditions have been observed. A G2 *alert* for moderate geomagnetic storming has been issued by NOAA SWPC. Further periods of G2 storming may occur tonight if the solar wind Bz can remain southward. North American chasers, stay tuned!

Wow! Just cracked 100 GW on the OVATION model today as solar wind remains very favorable for driving strong geomagnetic activity. The U.S. may see mid-latitude auroral displays soon once night falls. I will be tuning into webcams on the U.S. east coast shortly. go.theauroraguy.com/webcams