The storm hit 12 hours early!
In a message dated 10/24/03 2:28:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
The combined shock front from three solar events arrived at Earth on
the 23rd around 3 PM Greenwich Mean Time (12 hrs earlier than
forecast). The effects of this arrival will contribute to aurora in
northern continental Europe where it is now evening. Tasmania and
Southern New Zealand should be seeing early morning aurora now.
If the solar wind magnetic field remains southward, there should be
aurora visible as far south as Northern California, Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia tonight, Friday,
October 24th. The time of highest activity for any given observing
site is around 11 pm local time. Observers should check the sky
every half hour after sunset, however.
More activity is expected this weekend as the solar active regions
continue to rotate into a position more directly facing Earth.