The Far Side Looms Near | Space Weather Snapshot 20 May 2026

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Space weather this week stays a bit on the calm side. Now, we are getting a little bit of a disturbance from a glancing solar storm blow from region 4436. Pow, you could see that launch right there. That was a solar storm that was launched mainly to the north of Earth, but it is giving us a little bit of aurora, especially at high latitudes.

[00:00:17]Now, aurora photographers at mid-latitudes, well, you're going to be basically waiting for some fast solar wind that should hit us around the 23rd and the 24th. It's not going to last all that long, but it could give you a little bit of a show if you're willing to chase substorms. Now, the big story is actually the far side. We've got a lot of activity on the far side that's going to be rotating into Earth view.

[00:00:35]Some of it already is, and by about Sunday, expect moderate noise on the day side radio bands with about a 35% chance of M-class flares at the R1 to R2 level radio blackout, but expect X-class flares and the risk for that to stay pretty low. Now, as we return to radiation storms in the polar aviation outlook, pretty much everything's going to stay in the green this week and likely next week, too, but these uh forecasts can change quite quickly, especially with these big regions rotating into view.