Space Weather Alerts, Watches & Warnings

Yes/no depends on live NOAA data — check the ticker at the top of this page. When NOAA issues a Geomagnetic Storm Warning (G1–G5), a Solar Radiation Storm Warning (S1–S5), or a Radio Blackout (R1–R5), you'll see it listed in the 'Active Now' section above with plain-English impacts.

A geomagnetic storm warning means NOAA expects the Kp index to reach 5 or higher, disturbing Earth's magnetic field. Any active geomagnetic warning appears above with its G-scale rating. G1 is minor (aurora in far northern states), G5 is extreme (aurora near the equator, potential grid failures).

NASA does not issue space weather warnings — that's NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the official U.S. authority. NASA operates the satellites (SDO, SOHO, DSCOVR) that feed data to NOAA. This page pulls directly from NOAA SWPC and refreshes every 5 minutes.

Right here — the alerts above update every 5 minutes from NOAA SWPC. For real-time solar wind, Kp index, X-ray flux, and CME tracking, use our live Dashboard. For the Sun's current appearance, see the SDO Satellite Images page.

Aurora visibility during a storm is shown on the OVATION aurora oval map on our Aurora Forecast page. NOAA's own live map is embedded there as well. The higher the storm's G-level, the further south aurora becomes visible.

NOAA publishes a 3-day space weather outlook. Any storm expected within the next 72 hours appears above as a 'Watch' (issued days ahead) rather than a 'Warning' (issued when the storm is imminent or in progress). Watches become warnings when confidence increases.

Our live Space Weather Dashboard shows real-time Kp, IMF Bz, solar wind speed, X-ray flux, and proton flux — all pulled from NOAA SWPC. Combined with the alerts on this page, it's the complete picture of what the Sun and Earth's magnetic field are doing right now.