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SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts |
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Updated at: 2026 Mar 30 2200 UTC
FLARE |
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
CLASS M |
55
% |
55
% |
CLASS X |
10
% |
10
% |
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant
disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor
storm, severe
storm
Updated at: 2026 Mar 30 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
30
% |
40
% |
MINOR |
30
% |
25
% |
SEVERE |
20
% |
05
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
05
% |
10
% |
MINOR |
20
% |
25
% |
SEVERE |
75
% |
60
% |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
This is an AI Free Zone: AI is everywhere -- except here. Every word on Spaceweather.com comes directly from the pen of Dr. Tony Phillips. If you find a mistake, rest assured it was made by a real human being.
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STRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: Strong G3-class geomagnetic storms are possible later today, March 31st, when a CME is expected to graze Earth. It was launched by yesterday's X1.5-class solar flare. NOAA and NASA models disagree on the severity of the impact, so there is some uncertainty in the forecast. If the CME arrives on time, NASA's Artemis II Moon rocket could launch into a geomagnetic storm on April 1st. Despite the potential for 'strong' storming, this space weather event is far from extreme and it should not endanger the mission. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
HOW SOLAR FLARES CAN DIM THE SUN: Solar flares are bright explosions of electromagnetic radiation on the sun. Yesterday's X1.5-class solar flare, however, did the opposite. The explosion caused an area around the blast to become darker, shown here in an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
"This is a nice example of 'EUV dimming,'" says Sam Freeland of the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, who made the movie. "It happens when an explosion on the sun produces a CME."
Where did all the bright stuff go? It left the sun. Hot plasma normally gathered around the exploding sunspot formed a CME (coronal mass ejection) and departed, leaving only darkness behind. Here is what the actual CME looked like.
Space weather forecasters look for EUV dimming immediately after any strong flare to see if a CME might be coming. Hours later, coronagraph images typically confirm their first guess. Darkness tells the tale. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
THE GEOMETRIC BLACK CAT: This cat will never leave your side. The Geometric Black Cat flew to the edge of space on Oct. 4, 2025, floating 101,875 feet above the Sierra Nevada Mountains of central California:
You can have it for $121.95. Hand-carved from resin, this desktop sculpture loves to hang out on bookcases or computer monitors. It comes with a keepsake card showing the cat at the top of Earth’s atmosphere, and telling the story of its flight to the edge of space onboard a cosmic ray research balloon.
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Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Every night, a network
of NASA
all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United
States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software
maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office
calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth
in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics.
Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.
On March 30, 2026, the network reported 9 fireballs.
(9 sporadics)
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue).
[Larger image] [movies]
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids ( PHAs)
are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that
can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the
known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet,
although astronomers are finding new
ones all the time.
On March 31, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2026 FM3 |
2026-Mar-25 |
0.6 LD |
5.4 |
5 |
| 2026 EP3 |
2026-Mar-25 |
8.2 LD |
8.2 |
23 |
| 2026 FR8 |
2026-Mar-25 |
2.3 LD |
8.3 |
15 |
| 2026 FG4 |
2026-Mar-25 |
4.7 LD |
10.9 |
7 |
| 2025 SP20 |
2026-Mar-25 |
18.8 LD |
11 |
12 |
| 2026 FB5 |
2026-Mar-25 |
1.3 LD |
10.3 |
7 |
| 2026 FM7 |
2026-Mar-25 |
1.5 LD |
7.6 |
14 |
| 2026 FP8 |
2026-Mar-26 |
2.8 LD |
20.9 |
14 |
| 2026 FB3 |
2026-Mar-26 |
7.4 LD |
13.1 |
17 |
| 2026 FN12 |
2026-Mar-26 |
10.9 LD |
15.6 |
32 |
| 2026 FL12 |
2026-Mar-26 |
0.9 LD |
11 |
5 |
| 2026 FB4 |
2026-Mar-26 |
1.7 LD |
10.4 |
9 |
| 2026 FA3 |
2026-Mar-27 |
7.5 LD |
13.8 |
17 |
| 2026 FR2 |
2026-Mar-28 |
18.1 LD |
11.6 |
26 |
| 2026 FX5 |
2026-Mar-28 |
7.7 LD |
12.2 |
15 |
| 2026 FL4 |
2026-Mar-28 |
4.9 LD |
19.3 |
14 |
| 2026 FO8 |
2026-Mar-28 |
10.7 LD |
7.8 |
17 |
| 2026 FU2 |
2026-Mar-28 |
2.4 LD |
13.2 |
11 |
| 2026 FF6 |
2026-Mar-29 |
7.7 LD |
19.8 |
35 |
| 2026 FG6 |
2026-Mar-29 |
1.8 LD |
10.2 |
11 |
| 2026 FN1 |
2026-Mar-30 |
8.5 LD |
9.9 |
18 |
| 2026 FA4 |
2026-Mar-30 |
16.3 LD |
11.6 |
21 |
| 2026 FV3 |
2026-Mar-31 |
10.9 LD |
11.1 |
23 |
| 2026 FZ6 |
2026-Mar-31 |
10.4 LD |
7.2 |
15 |
| 2026 FJ |
2026-Mar-31 |
7.7 LD |
2.2 |
12 |
| 2026 FV5 |
2026-Apr-01 |
11.7 LD |
5.6 |
12 |
| 2026 FC7 |
2026-Apr-01 |
19 LD |
11 |
24 |
| 2026 FH7 |
2026-Apr-01 |
1.9 LD |
8.3 |
15 |
| 2026 FQ8 |
2026-Apr-02 |
8.1 LD |
8.1 |
23 |
| 2026 FD4 |
2026-Apr-02 |
8 LD |
6 |
10 |
| 2026 FR6 |
2026-Apr-02 |
15.3 LD |
17.1 |
25 |
| 2026 FR4 |
2026-Apr-02 |
14 LD |
6.8 |
12 |
| 2025 GL |
2026-Apr-03 |
9.8 LD |
6.4 |
5 |
| 2019 FQ1 |
2026-Apr-03 |
9.6 LD |
10.1 |
13 |
| 2023 DZ2 |
2026-Apr-04 |
2.6 LD |
7.2 |
49 |
| 2026 FG5 |
2026-Apr-04 |
8.6 LD |
24.9 |
35 |
| 2026 FB6 |
2026-Apr-04 |
12.6 LD |
6.8 |
10 |
| 2026 FH6 |
2026-Apr-04 |
18.1 LD |
8.1 |
37 |
| 2026 FF7 |
2026-Apr-04 |
4.6 LD |
13.1 |
11 |
| 2026 FW6 |
2026-Apr-05 |
15.4 LD |
19.8 |
27 |
| 2021 GN6 |
2026-Apr-06 |
5.8 LD |
7 |
14 |
| 2011 FT9 |
2026-Apr-07 |
3.4 LD |
5.9 |
20 |
| 2024 TB7 |
2026-Apr-07 |
4.9 LD |
7.5 |
5 |
| 2002 TB70 |
2026-Apr-07 |
13.4 LD |
9.2 |
164 |
| 2022 GE2 |
2026-Apr-10 |
12 LD |
9.2 |
15 |
| 2026 FE7 |
2026-Apr-11 |
8.9 LD |
7.9 |
28 |
| 2023 HB4 |
2026-Apr-12 |
16.8 LD |
8.7 |
15 |
| 2026 FV6 |
2026-Apr-13 |
7.4 LD |
11.1 |
29 |
| 2013 GM3 |
2026-Apr-14 |
0.7 LD |
7.4 |
20 |
| 2026 FJ6 |
2026-Apr-18 |
15.8 LD |
9.8 |
95 |
| 2026 AC4 |
2026-Apr-20 |
10.7 LD |
1.2 |
22 |
| 2022 UG2 |
2026-Apr-20 |
16.3 LD |
10.3 |
13 |
| 2025 HQ4 |
2026-Apr-21 |
16.4 LD |
12.5 |
22 |
| 2026 BK2 |
2026-Apr-22 |
10 LD |
8.1 |
219 |
| 2022 UU8 |
2026-Apr-25 |
8.7 LD |
4 |
9 |
| 2020 GE3 |
2026-May-09 |
11.1 LD |
6 |
21 |
| 2023 VR5 |
2026-May-16 |
7.5 LD |
2.3 |
10 |
| 2025 KR4 |
2026-May-18 |
15.2 LD |
5.9 |
22 |
| 2023 KH4 |
2026-May-24 |
5.5 LD |
7.9 |
14 |
| 2023 KZ1 |
2026-May-24 |
9 LD |
13.4 |
20 |
Notes: LD means
"Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance
between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256
AU.
| |
Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere |
SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 10 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements.
Latest results (Nov. 2024): Atmospheric radiation is sharply decreasing in 2024. Our latest measurements in November registered a 10-year low:
What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.
.Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. A number of controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) go even further, linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.
Data points in the graph labeled "Stratospheric Radiation" correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.
| |
The
official U.S. government space weather bureau |
| |
The
first place to look for information about sundogs,
pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
| |
Researchers
call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO
is the most advanced solar observatory ever. |
| |
3D
views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial
Relations Observatory |
| |
Realtime
and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. |
| |
information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary |
| |
current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page. See also, all satellite statistics. |
| |
Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries |
| |
from
the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| |
fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. |
| |
from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| |
the
underlying science of space weather |
 |
Got a chipped or cracked windshield that prevents you from seeing space weather events while driving? Get windshield replacement from SR Windows & Glass with free mobile auto glass service anywhere in the Phoenix area. |
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