G1 Minor Storm leves reached

Better late than never!  A CME that left the Sun around 17 Mar, and was forecast to side-swipe the Earth sometime between 20 and 21 Mar, finally arrived! The initial indications of the CME's arrival were observed overnight in the real time solar wind data, as indicated on the ACE/DSCOVR spacecraft. The impact at Earth was observed some hours later by the magnetometers around the globe, sparking a G1 Warning and subsequent Alert by SWPC forecasters. While a G1 is on the lower end of the NOAA scales, it can produce some good aurora viewing in the nighttime sectors in the upper latitudes. Stay tuned to the SWPC web page for updated watches, warnings, alerts, and forecasts.