kar999

Between Newcastleton and Hawick looking towards Hemitage Castle.

Sunset in the Scotish Borders - 30th September 2005

Mrs Kar reliably informs me thundery shower currently underway at home location now (15:08).

On this day (October 6th) 50 years ago: Gale smashes shop window. (Originally published: October 6, 1955 Express and Star article here.) Wolverhampton and district - like the rest of Britain - was lashed by gale-force winds last night. A plate-glass window at the Wednesbury branch of the Walsall and District Co-Operative Society was blown in....... I haven't been able to find out just how bad or not these gales were. Maybe it was just a slow day for news!

Have just been watching some faint green aurora through broken cloud here.... Shame it's not any clearer. It's often worth checking out the webcams at the Met Office site for Scotland which run 24/7. http://www.metoffice.com/weather/europe/uk/webcam/ Particularly the Eskdalemuir and the Aboyne ones. (From spacew.com) Updated: 12:15 UTC 15 September (8:15 am EDT, 15 September): Geomagnetic and Auroral Activity Update The coronal mass ejection has arrived. It is currently producing periods of minor geomagnetic storm conditions. Activity has the potential to intensify toward major storm levels during the next 12 hours, with a slight chance for isolated severe storming (K-indices could range from 5 to 7). Some dark-sky mid-latitude regions may spot periods of activity. The best locations now appear to be New Zealand, Australia and northern Russia. Conditions may remain favorable for Europeans tonight as well. The prospects do not look so good for North Americans, however. The disturbance is likely to decay before darkness falls again tonight. Solar Activity Update Region 808 is in a gradual state of simplification. It produced another impulsive X-class flare (X1.1 at 08:38 UTC). We are uncertain if this event was associated with an Earthward-directed coronal mass ejection. There is insufficient data available at the present time.

Persisting down here... no chance of anything tonight for me... typical.

I'll be in the wilds of the Borders so I'm hoping for some activity but the weather looks to be against me.

So true Shuggee. If the geomagnetic storms occur when its daylight or cloudy here I go to that site and weep! Doesn't look that way at the moment just a mild storm in progress but keep your eyes on the indicators on the pinned post above and... "On 15 September, major to severe storm periods are possible due to the expected arrival of the CME "

We didn't have to wait long! (from spaceweather.com) A coronal mass ejection (CME) is racing toward Earth and it could spark a severe geomagnetic storm when it arrives--perhaps tonight (Sept. 14th and 15th). People everywhere should be alert for auroras. The CME was hurled into space on Sept. 13th by an X1-class explosion at sunspot 798. If this incoming CME does hit Earth's magnetic field as hard as forecasters expect, auroras could appear in places where they are seldom seen: California, Arizona, Texas and elsewhere. Let's hope it's not another daytime storm here and the skies aren't cloudy.

Yep Shuggee. Activity has been fairly high for a few days now and will probably continue so for a while. The Kp index has been averaging around 6 for more than 3 days now and as I write this a G2 geomagnetic storm is in progress. For the next few days, keep one eye on the indicators above and one on the Northern skies! Here's the official forecast. Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to range from unsettled to major storm levels. Solar wind speed remains very high and further transient flow is expected on 13 September. Barring any further CME activity from Region 808, the geomagnetic field should return to unsettled to active periods by 15 September. Sunspot 808 is decaying but its still got some potential and it's pointing earthwards and will be so for quite a number of days yet.

Shame you couldn't capture what you could see there Frogesque. Too much misty cloud here for me to see anything last night.

From Spaceweather.com The storm unfortunately occured during UK daytime but the alert still applies for the next few days. Clear skies permitting!. AURORA ALERT: A strong geomagnetic storm sparked beautiful auroras last night. Although the storm is subsiding now, it could be re-energized at any time by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) propelled in our direction from active sunspot 798. Sky watchers everywhere should remain alert for auroras tonight.

There data is still being displayed there. Use the sticky I posted above to monitor activity. http://www.net-weather.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=14968 Or check out these: http://www.spaceweather.com The Aurora Live

Another major X-class flare (X5) unleased today from sunspot 798 at 21:15 UTC... Solar radiation storms S2 (click link for details) and radio blackouts R2/3 (click link for details) currently in progress. X-Ray flux activity has practically been in the C-Class and above bracket for over 48 hours. If this sunspot keeeps this up when it's pointing our way, just a couple more days or so, we should be in with some good chances of seeing the aurora (weather permitting) even at lower latitudes. As always, check the indicators on the post above for local activity. http://www.net-weather.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=14968

At that weight it sounds like Mr Moo Jnr was born with his school uniform on! I take it you wont be riding your bike down to the post office for a while then?

Here's the culprit rotating our way nicely... http://www.bbso.njit.edu/Images/daily/images/hfullc.jpg

I hope so... I'll be in the Scotish Borders from the 17th with zero light pollution. (Just hope there is zero cloud as well!!)

From spaceweather.com. SOLAR FLARE: On Sept. 7th at 1740 UT (1:40 p.m. EDT), Earth-orbiting satellites detected a major X17-class solar flare coming from the sun's eastern limb. The blast caused a complete blackout of HF radio transmissions on the daylit side of Earth. Emergency personnel in hurricane-hit areas of the U.S. Gulf Coast may have experienced problems with their communications gear for minutes to hours after the flare. The source of the flare was returning sunspot 798, which sparked strong auroras in late August. Two weeks of quiet followed those storms while the sunspot transited the farside of the sun--but now it's back, and it's turning toward our planet again. Its a shame such a huge flare wasn't earth directed as it would have most likely produced aurora visible way down South. However..... Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be moderate to high. Region 808 is obviously a complex and moderate-large size sunspot group with great flare potential. Expect further major flares.

I only caught the last 5 minutes of this programme "Inside Out" on BBC1 last night (W Midlands region). I doubt if it will be repeated unfortunately. http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/westmidland.../week_one.shtml Birmingham tornado A tornado which recently struck at the heart of Birmingham surprised and terrified residents in the city. Terrifying tornado - the aftermath of the Birmingham hit Ferocious winds picked up cars, tore down trees and ripped roofs apart, causing several injuries and millions of pounds worth of damage. But one man who has studied tornadoes for more than 10 years believes the city got off lightly, and says the worst is still to come. Weather presenter Shefali Oza caught up with storm chaser Mark Humpage to find out more – and met a 92-year-old Birmingham woman who has seen it all before. Inside Out West Midlands is on Monday September 5 at 19.30 on BBC One. Is Mark Humpage one of our members or a Torro guy I wonder?