NOAA / Space Weather Prediction Center

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Space Weather Advisories

Advisory Bulletins

Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Boulder, Colorado, USA

Space Weather Advisory Bulletins are issued when conditions occur that are thought to be of interest to the public.

SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY BULLETIN #08 - 1
2008 January 04 at 06:05 p.m. MST (2008 January 05 0105 UTC)

**** FIRST SOLAR CYCLE 24 POLARITY SUNSPOT OBSERVED ****

The first sunspot region with Solar Cycle 24 polarity was numbered by the Space Weather Prediction Center on January 4 at 2000 UTC (3:00 P.M. EST). The sunspot region was officially numbered as 10981.

This does not mean the new cycle has officially started; however, this is a clear sign Solar Cycle 24 is within sight. Sunspots are tracked because they indicate the level of space weather activity we expect. Solar activity is forecast to reach a peak in 2011 or 2012.

For current space weather conditions see: Space Weather Now, Today's Space Weather and Space Weather Alerts

Older SWPC Bulletins

The Space Weather categories used in the Advisory products are explained at NOAA space weather scales.

Space Weather Advisories are available here as soon as they are issued. Advisories are also distributed via email through the SWPC Product Subscription Service.

Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions.

Each type of advisory message has its own reference number; the last two digits of the current year and a sequential message number.

Dates and times are Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) or Mountain Standard Time (MST) followed by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The difference between Mountain and Universal times are MDT + 6 hours = UTC or MST + 7 hours = UTC.

More information is available at SWPC's Web site or (303) 497-5127.

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