Solar storm forecast East London
Space weather today in East London
Updated
G1 minor geomagnetic storm forecast. Aurora in East London: unlikely tonight (Kp 5 forecast; East London needs an extreme Kp 9 storm) It is daytime in East London, so a strong solar flare right now would affect HF radio here.
Space weather in East London today
G1 minor geomagnetic storm forecast (NOAA, 2026-11-06 03:27 UTC). The planetary Kp index is 2 now and forecast to peak at Kp 5 in the next 24 hours. NOAA gives a 35% chance of R1–R2 radio blackouts today, 10% for R3 or stronger, and 5% for a solar radiation storm.
Radio: solar flares only black out HF radio on the half of Earth facing the Sun. The Sun is 5° above the horizon in East London now (5:33 am local time). The biggest flare in the past 24 hours was M3.5 at 8:33 pm local time, while East London was on the night side. HF radio is mainly hit by daytime solar flares (radio blackouts), not by geomagnetic storms.
GPS and power: GPS is normally unaffected; only severe G4–G5 storms cause noticeable errors here. Power grid effects are very unlikely at this latitude.
Is there a solar storm today, and does it reach East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa? Live NOAA space weather, translated for East London: geomagnetic storms, solar flares and radio blackouts, GPS effects and tonight's aurora chance. Times are local (Africa/Johannesburg).
- Geomagnetic storm
- none now G1 minor forecast today
- Kp now
- 2 max 5 next 24 h (G1 minor storm)
- Radio blackout
- none now East London is on the sunlit side
- Solar radiation storm
- none now NOAA S scale
- Kp for aurora at East London
- 9 (extreme storms only) geomagnetic latitude 34.2° S
- Solar wind speed
- 314 km/s slow, normal
- Magnetic field Bz
- 1 nT north: quiet
- Biggest flare, past 24 h
- M3.5 Thu 8:33 pm
Aurora chance tonight in East London
Unlikely tonight (Kp 5 forecast; East London needs an extreme Kp 9 storm). At 34.2° S geomagnetic, East London is far from the auroral oval; only extreme Kp 9 (G5) storms such as May 2024 bring the aurora into view, mostly to cameras.
At the forecast Kp 5, the aurora's visible edge stays about 2,109 km south of East London.
| Day (UTC) | Max Kp | Level | Aurora possible at East London? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-06 | 4.7 | active | No |
| 2026-11-07 | 5 | G1 minor storm | No |
| 2026-11-08 | 5 | G1 minor storm | No |
NOAA 3-day space weather forecast
Chances that NOAA issues each level somewhere on Earth. Radio blackouts only affect the sunlit side; geomagnetic storms are global but strongest near the poles.
| Day (UTC) | Radio blackout R1–R2 | Radio blackout R3+ | Solar radiation storm S1+ | Geomagnetic storm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-06 | 35% | 10% | 5% | G1 minor |
| 2026-11-07 | 35% | 10% | 5% | G1 minor |
| 2026-11-08 | 35% | 10% | 5% | G1 minor |
Strongest solar flares this week
C-class and stronger flares from the past 7 days, local time in East London.
- M3.5 flare peak Thu 8:33 pm, R1 minor radio blackout
- C5.6 flare peak Fri 4:51 am
- C2.9 flare peak Thu 11:34 pm
- C2.5 flare peak Fri 2:24 am
- C2.2 flare peak Wed 7:34 pm
- C1.3 flare peak Fri 12:31 am
- C1.2 flare peak Fri 12:21 am
- C1.2 flare peak Wed 8:54 am
- C1.1 flare peak Thu 7:00 pm
- C1.1 flare peak Wed 12:39 am
What the scales mean
Space weather is the Sun's effect on Earth. NOAA rates it on three 1–5 scales. R (radio blackouts) comes from solar flares: X-rays reach Earth in 8 minutes and disrupt HF radio on the sunlit side for minutes to hours. S (solar radiation storms) comes from energetic protons a few hours later, a hazard for satellites, polar flights and astronauts. G (geomagnetic storms) comes 1–3 days after a coronal mass ejection or a fast solar-wind stream hits the magnetic field: it drives the aurora and can upset GPS, HF radio and power grids.
The Kp index (0–9) measures geomagnetic activity in 3-hour blocks: Kp 5 is a G1 storm, Kp 6 G2, Kp 7 G3, Kp 8 G4 and Kp 9 G5. Flares are classed A, B, C, M and X by peak X-ray brightness, each class ten times the one before; M1 flares cause R1 blackouts and X1 flares R3.
Space weather for nearby cities
More sky pages
Guides
Data: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, GOES X-ray flux (NOAA), Open-Meteo (cloud cover), GeoNames.