Magnetic storms from the coronal hole on the Sun will begin within 24 hours.

According to calculations, by the end of today, a stream of fast solar wind currently forming in a large coronal hole on the Sun will reach Earth, triggering a roughly 2-3-day period of unstable geomagnetic conditions. This hole has existed on the Sun for several months, periodically returning to Earth at intervals of approximately 27 days—the time it takes the Sun to complete a complete rotation. For example, it appeared this way in February, and this way in March. In both cases, the appearance of an object opposite Earth triggered magnetic storms of the G1-G2 level. A similar forecast has been issued for this event (shown in the lower graph).

Earth will remain in the fast wind stream for about a week, but the strongest impact is expected in the first two days—Saturday and Sunday—when the planet will adapt to new external conditions, passing through a period of greatest instability. It is expected that by Monday, the magnetic field will return to equilibrium with the external environment, and the active phase of the geomagnetic storm will end.

Despite the obvious decline in flare activity, the current year remains quite intense geomagnetically. During the first 100 days of the year, magnetic storms were observed on 24 days, meaning they were marked red approximately every fourth day. In this regard, the year currently ranks second in the current century, behind only 2003, which currently holds the record for both the intensity of solar flares and the number of magnetic storms. Increased geomagnetic activity is expected to persist at least until the end of the year, and likely into next year, after which it will rapidly decline amid the approaching solar minimum.